|
Friday, December 03, 2004
Typhoon lashes Catanduanes, Camarines; 6 feared dead
MANILA -- Typhoon "Yoyong" lashed at Catanduanes and Camarines Sur Thursday, leaving at least six persons dead in its wake, and made landfall, later in the night, in Baler, Aurora.
Packing center winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour and gusts of 220 kph, Yoyong is cutting across the main island of Luzon, which is still reeling from the devastation and destruction--about 600 deaths and counting--wrought by three successive storms.
President Arroyo suspended work in all government offices in Metro Manila starting at noon Thursday to allow workers to go home early.
Classes were also called off.
She also ordered on Thursday night the suspension of both work in government offices (excluded are those rendering essential services like security, health and relief operations) and classes--at all levels--nationwide on Friday due to bad weather.
Storm signal 4 was in effect over Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Northern Quezon, Pollillo Islands, Aurora, Quirino and Isabela.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, Yoyong (international codename: Nanmadol) was nearing Baler in Aurora at a speed of 120 kph.
The typhoon, the fourth to hit the country in just two weeks, was expected to slice through Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Benguet and La Union provinces on Friday and its eye would exit over Laoag, Ilocos Norte before it heads for China Saturday.
Storm signal 3 was also hoisted over Camarines Sur, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet, Mt. Province, Kalinga, Cagayan, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos provinces, Abra and Apayao.
The provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, Burias Islands, Marinduque, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bataan, Zambales, Northern and Eastern Samar, and Metro Manila was placed under storm signal 2.
Masbate, Romblon, Mindoro provinces, Lubang Island, Batanes Group of
Islands, Dinagat Island, Western Samar, Leyte provinces and Biliran Island, meanwhile, were under storm signal 1.
ABS-CBN reported that close to 2,000 passengers were stranded Thursday in seaports in the provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, Catanduanes, and Masbate.
Floodwater was also reported to be rising in areas in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, following the opening of the gates of the Angat and Pantabangan dams to release several volumes of water.
President Arroyo offered her condolences to victims of earlier weather disturbances and assured them that calamity funds would go directly to the purchase of food and medicines.
She also praised local government officials and members of the provincial disaster coordinating councils for their fast action in responding to the needs of the victims and in preparing for typhoon Yoyong.
Arroyo went to Barangay Maragondon in Real, Quezon at 1 p.m. Thursday to lead the distribution of food packs and check on the conditions of the victims.
She initially planned to fly to Sinloan in Laguna and motor to Quezon but bad weather prevented the move.
Her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) is on top of the situation "and we call on the public to be prepared and alert amidst the threat posed by the new typhoon."
"Contingency measures for public safety have already been drawn up and we are asking for full cooperation of residents in potentially hazardous areas. We must act to minimize if not preclude casualties," Bunye said.
He also appealed to the private sector to augment government resources being used to help those displaced and severely affected.
"This is a time for every capable Filipino to chip in to serve the less fortunate," he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) has dispatched medical teams to flooded and landslide-stricken areas in Luzon.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said the deployment of medical teams was also in preparation for Yoyong.
Dayrit said he has placed all government hospitals and its regional health offices on "code white alert", allowing the facilities to be in a high state of readiness with all key personnel and departments on standby for any incident.
Aside from deploying medical teams, Dayrit ordered disease surveillance teams to monitor the health situation in evacuation centers and in the affected areas as the bodies of those who died in the floods and landslides are still exposed and unburied.
In a briefing at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Camp Aguinaldo, Dayrit said a decomposing body could cause a disease to break out among people nearby.
To prevent this, Dayrit said a body recovered should be buried outright.
He also appealed for additional body bags and formalin.
Fifteen boxes of BP5 compact foods worth P28,956 and medicines such as paracetamol, amoxycillin and lagundi, as well as supplies like bandages amounting to P200,000, have been sent to various evacuation centers and health offices.
Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered local chief executives to form contingency plans for Yoyong.
He sought financial aid from local government units that were not affected by tropical depression Winnie.
Cruz said the NDCC, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other local agencies continue to provide relief goods to the evacuees.
Search and rescue operations were ongoing in the affected areas, he added.
PNP Chief Edgardo Aglipay placed the entire PNP under full alert for disaster relief and rescue missions in affected areas.
He said the joint Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-PNP Operations Center, in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and NDCC, has been activated to monitor the situation in the regions and to coordinate all disaster relief and rescue operations by the police units.
The DILG-PNP Operations Center will provide situation updates from the regions every three hours, he said.
Aglipay directed the police regional directors, in their concurrent capacity as chairmen of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Committees in their respective regions, to mobilize all available PNP resources and personnel and assume maximum disaster preparedness stance.
All regional and provincial mobile groups as well as the Special Action Forces have been committed for disaster relief and rescue missions.
The Maritime Group and Traffic Management Group were also placed on standby to conduct rescue and relief missions when needed. (JMR/JFF/Marie Neri)
(December 3, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
