MORE than 150,000 families have fled their homes in preparation for typhoon Ruby, which is threatening Eastern Visayas, the same area battered by typhoon Yolanda on Nov. 8 last year.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday that 616,550 individuals have been evacuated since Dec. 3, a day before Ruby entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility.
The evacuees are from the provinces of Quezon, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Oriental, Cebu, Siquijor, Bohol, Leyte, Biliran, Eastern, Northern and Western Samar, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Island.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman assured that the evacuation centers are “safe and efficient” in light of last year’s incident where hundreds were killed when a storm surge brought by Yolanda destroyed a temporary shelter in Tacloban City in Leyte.
The NDRRMC said the number of stranded passengers also dropped to 900 from 2,000 last Friday.
The NDRRMC said 40 vessels, 115 rolling cargoes and nine motor bancas are still stranded and 49 trips were cancelled since sea travel is prohibited.
Forced evacuation
Some 88 domestic flights were cancelled in areas affected by Ruby, which was packing winds of 185 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 220 kph while making its way to Samar.
Ruby was forecast to make landfall over the Eastern and Northern Samar area this morning, the state weather bureau said.
The Cebu City Government started implementing the force evacuation of families along coastal and danger-prone areas yesterday afternoon.
Mayor Michael Rama ordered the “persuasive harassment with care evacuation” of families after he was briefed on the latest weather condition by Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Mactan Vhief Oscar Tabada.
“After the assessment of the new weather condition that rain and high tide will be expected early tomorrow (today), all remaining families in coastal, river and mountain barangays should be all in evacuation centers,” Rama said.
According to records of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, at least 3,000 families live on danger zones.
Mayor’s visit
Sally Agipo, 62, of Sitio Back Pepsi in Barangay Mabolo, said they immediately transferred to the Mabolo National High School because they were afraid the typhoon Ruby might flood their area.
“We left as soon as we were ordered to evacuate because we live near the Mahiga Creek, which floods during heavy downpours,” she said in Cebuano.
Agipo and her family have been staying at the school since Friday.
The Mabolo National High School was one of six evacuation centers that the mayor visited yesterday.
At the Cebu Technological University, which was designated for families from Barangays San Roque, Tinago and Tejero, Rama ordered evacuees to move into the classrooms instead of occupying the gym.
“They have to be safe and should occupy the rooms,” he said.
Occupied
The number of families in evacuation centers is expected to go up today as City continues to implement forced evacuation.
Meanwhile, evacuation centers in most parts of Cebu Province are already occupied.
Even caves in the northern town of San Remigio are being used as evacuation centers, said Mayor Mariano Martinez.
He said residents in two sitios in Barangay Bagtic and residents in a sitio in Barangay San Miguel opted to stay inside the natural shelter.
Bagtic and San Miguel are the remotest of the town’s 27 barangays.
As of 11 a.m. yesterday, Martinez said 3,000 evacuees from 13 barangays were housed in 100 evacuation centers that included churches, chapels, barangay halls, schools and private homes.
He said they had no figures on how many were evacuated in the remaining 14 barangays.
Martinez said they already spent more than P1 million of their disaster preparedness fund to buy relief materials.
Martinez said each barangay received 16 bags of rice for its evacuees.
In Daanbantayan, 4,112 families had made their way to the town’s evacuation centers as of 8 p.m. last Friday.
In Medellin, only 619 families from 10 of the town’s 19 barangays opted to go to evacuation centers. Third Anne Peralta of Sunnex/RVC/OCP