E. Visayas residents alerted vs ‘Gener’

THE Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has alerted all local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas region for possible flashfloods and landslides, as tropical depression "Gener," which was earlier spotted northeast of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, turned into a storm.

Gener intensified rapidly into a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, placing five areas in northern Luzon under storm warning signal number 1.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) raised the storm warning signal over the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan, including Calayan, Babuyan, and Batanes Group of Island.

Mayor Annaliza Kwan said that since Friday morning, Guiuan town has been experiencing some moderate to heavy rains.

“But it’s all heavy rains without winds,” she said.

Kwan said she already activated the town’s disaster risk reduction management council for possible calamities brought by Gener.

Cherelyn Lubang, regional administrative officer of the OCD, said LGUs should immediately activate their respective disaster councils.

“It should be automatic once there is an impending disaster,” Lubang said.

“The disaster risk reduction management council of the LGUs should now conduct their emergency meeting and that they should constantly monitor the weather condition,” Lubang said.

Lubang also cautioned fishermen not to venture too far into the eastern seaboards of the country.

Gener is moving north northwest of Luzon at 15 kilometers per hour (kph).

At 4 p.m. Saturday, the center of the tropical storm was located 250 kilometers (km) northeast of Virac, Catanduanes or 450 km east southeast of Casiguran in Aurora province, the Pagasa said.

With maximum sustained winds of 65 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph, Gener is expected to be at 290 km northeast of Casiguran, Aurora on Sunday afternoon and at 130 km northeast of Basco, Batanes by Monday afternoon. (Leyte Samar Daily Express/Sunnex)