SOME 1,565 individuals were evacuated in the Cordillera Administrative Region as a pre-emptive measure ahead of Typhoon Rosita, which hammered parts of northern Luzon Tuesday noon, October 30.
As of 2 p.m. of October 30, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the region recorded the following evacuees: 14 families or 53 individuals in Apayao; 76 families or 380 individuals in Mountain Province, particularly in the municipalities of Bauko and Barlig; and 13 families or 27 individuals in Abra.
Janet Armas, director of DSWD Cordillera, assured that there are enough prepositioned goods for families affected by the typhoon.
“We have conducted the prepositioning of goods during Typhoon Rosita and as of today, we monitored 416 families who have decided to evacuate in the region with a total number of 1,565 individuals, with the highest number coming from Itogon, while we are preparing for the municipality of Tuba after our staff would have checked on how many families have evacuated at Camp 6, Kennon Road,” said Armas.
Some 1,700 packs of relief goods intended for Kalinga were transported to Ifugao, particularly Alfonso Lista and Aguinaldo towns.
Itogon
In Itogon, Benguet, at least 300 families or 1,105 individuals were evacuated.
Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan urged residents to prepare a grab-and-go bag containing essential items such as water, food, clothes, sleeping kits, first aid kits, gadgets, cellphones, power banks, flashlights, and important documents.
Cyril Batcagan, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management officer, stated during their monitoring that residents near critical and hazardous areas were evacuated first.
In Barangay Loacan, identified evacuation areas include the barangay hall, Gumatdang Elementary School for Gumatdang, Luneta Gym, Luneta Elementary School, Tocmo Elementary School and Loacan National High School.
Other evacuation sites are Bell School and Central Elementary School for Poblacion, Aboitiz Gym, Barangay Hall Gym for Tinongdan, Barangay Hall Gym in Tuding and Virac Elementary School.
Evacuation centers were also opened at Ampucao Elementary School, Dalicno Elementary School, Simpla Elementary School for Ampucao; Keystone Evacuation Center, and Gold Creek Elementary School in Ucab and Fianza National High School for Dalupirip.
In Barangay Virac, Association of Barangay Captains president Noel Bilibli said 10 families, 38 individuals, 13 children and two pregnant mothers are taking shelter at the evacuation center.
“We are waiting for individuals from other sitios. We recently came back from conducting forced evacuation. At least those we have advised for evacuation have relatives whom they can go to, so we just give them relief goods,” stated Bilibli.
“There are those who volunteered to evacuate from the declared high-risk areas.”
Relief goods were also distributed on the same day taken from the reliefs of the municipality from Typhoon Ompong.
Armas said the evacuation center in Wangal was earlier closed following the call of the local government of Itogon because of its proximity to the schools of the children.
“But if there would be a need to really evacuate, the DPWH have given the go signal for the use of their area in Wangal to be used as the site for the evacuation center undergoing construction now,” Armas added.
Classes suspended
Meanwhile, Benguet Governor Crescencio Pacalso, who chairs the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council, suspended classes in all levels, including technical-vocational schools, in both private and government schools from October 30 to 31 as proactive measure for the safety of the students.
He also urged each Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council of the 13 towns of Benguet to temporarily suspend outdoor activities and conduct pre-emptive evacuation of people living in high-risk areas.
Weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that as of 11 a.m. of October 30, Typhoon Rosita was heading towards Ifugao province with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 230 kph.
In the municipalities of Tuba and La Trinidad, the government suspended work in different offices.
La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda lifted the number coding scheme on the same dates to allow better mobility and quick response to emergency situations.
Salda said emergency evacuation centers are in place in all 16 barangays of La Trinidad including Puguis Elementary School, and La Trinidad Municipal Gym.
Residents of Little Kibungan, also in La Trinidad, were ordered to evacuate.
Salda said five families or 23 individuals were evacuated.
He also announced a municipal-wide liquor ban until October 31 midnight in order to prevent the unnecessary loss of lives and injury caused by drunkenness.
All climbing activities in Mt. Pulag were temporarily suspended.
Department of Tourism Cordillera Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Jovita Ganongan said trekking and caving activities in the Cordillera were not recommended.
Roads closed
Several roads leading to Baguio City were closed as of October 30, according to the Department of Public works and Highways in the region.
A portion of the Baguio-Bontoc Road, particularly along Busa, in Sabangan, Mt. Province was closed to traffic, however, motorists are advised to pass by Nacagang- Abatan, Bauko–Maba-ay.
Kennon Road remains closed to traffic while the Baguio-Bua-Itogon Road is open to traffic.
In Kalinga, the Pasil to Tabuk road is not passable due to a landslide in Ableg, Pasil.
Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana, Police Regional Office - Cordillera regional director, assured the readiness of the police in the region to respond to emergencies.
“Our police personnel have been on alert prior to the advisory of the entry of Typhoon Rosita to the Philippine Area of Responsibility and just like Typhoon Ompong and previous typhoons, they will be available to help in any rescue operations and security procedures we may require during and even after the typhoon,” Nana assured.