BY GLENDA TAYONA AND IME SORNITO
ILOILO City – Western Visayas is bracing for the onslaught of severe tropical storm “Odette” (international name “Rai”). It entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) last night.
“The projected impacts are high so we need utmost preparation,” said Cindy Ferrer, spokesperson of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Region 6.
The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) activated its emergency prepared and response (EPR) protocol to “Charlie”.
Risk levels of all provinces and highly urbanized cities in the region such as Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Iloilo City, and Bacolod City have been raised to “high”.
“Odette” is the Philippines’ 15th tropical cyclone this year.
Under the Charlie protocol, respective DRRMC members and stakeholders have to undertake a checklist of actions. OCD-6 must disseminate warning messages, advisories and relevant directives, activate DRRMC Emergency Operation Center and raise a Red Alert status, among others.
Meantime, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and member agencies and partners must activate response clusters on situation requirements such as food and non-food items, camp coordination and camp management, health, and logistics, among others.
As of Dec. 14, DSWD-6 prepositioned 3,535 family food packs (FFPs) in Kalibo (Aklan); Lambunao and Carles (Iloilo); Tobias Fornier (Antique); and Bago City (Negros Occidental). These were apart from the 15,898 more FFPs at the regional warehouse.
Earlier, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned that “Odette” is likely to intensify into a typhoon on Wednesday (Dec. 15).
Pagasa also said there is a moderate to high chance that a storm signal possibly as high as Signal No. 4 would be hoisted over provinces in Visayas and Mindanao.
LANDSLIDES, FLOODS
The Mines and Geoscience Bureau (MGB) in Region 6 urged local government units (LGUs) to prepare for possible floods and landslides.
“Scattered flooding (including flash floods) and rain-induced landslide are highly likely, especially in areas with high or very high susceptibility to these hazards as identified in hazards maps,” said Engineer Raul Laput, officer-in-charge.
“Adjacent or nearby areas may also experience flooding in the absence of such rainfall occurrence due to surface runoff of swelling of river channels,” he added.
LGUs must also review their geohazard maps “and take precautionary measures to include possible evacuations, if necessary.”
SOUTHERN ILOILO
On the other hand, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) alerted LGUs, especially in southern Iloilo (Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Tubungan, Igbaras, San Joaquin, and Miag-ao), that could possibly incur damage.
According to PDRRMO, all resources and capabilities were readied: the Provincial Health Office assigned to distribute medicine to evacuation centers; Provincial Engineering Office to deliver food packs and conduct clearing operations; Department of Education for evacuation centers; Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office for relief goods; Philippine National Police and Philippine Army for peace and order situation; and Philippine Coast Guard for search and rescue operation.
Bionat reminded Ilonggos, especially fishermen, to avoid sea travel./PN
