Eastern Visayas warned vs strong winds

THE Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) has alerted local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas for possible strong winds enhanced by southwest monsoon in the region.

OCD Regional Director Rey Gozon said in a telephone interview Monday that fax and text messages were sent to all provinces, cities, and municipalities on the latest weather update.

“This is to help LGUs become proactive and prevent any casualty,” Gozon said.

As of Monday morning, there have been no reports of impact of calamities in the region except for minor flooding that displaced some families in the towns of Biliran, Almeria, and Naval in Biliran province.

On Tuesday morning, Typhoon Gener was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 330 kilometers east northeast of Aparri, Cagayan, with maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometer per hour (kph) near center and gustiness of up to 135 kph.

“Most areas in the region are experiencing stronger wind and mild to moderate rainfall. Though we are not included on the list of areas with public storm signal, we already alerted LGUs,” Gozon added.

According to Gozon, 80 percent of the region’s 136 municipalities have active local risk reduction and management council with majority of them have been capacitated by the National Government in responding to calamities. The training kicked off in 2010.

Bhenlie Linde, OCD regional information officer, said that even if the region is not covered by any public storm signal, light fishing vessels were advised not to go offshore due to rough seas brought by strong winds enhanced by southwest monsoon.

As part of its disaster preparedness measures, the National Government is currently mapping specific flood-prone areas in the region for dissemination to LGUs.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has allowed LGUs to use 70 percent of the calamity fund for development instead of rehabilitation and reconstruction.

DILG has also set minimum criteria in evaluating LGU performance on responding to natural calamities before and after it happens – leadership structure, operational structure, efforts to mainstream land use plan. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)