THE Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) is urging the local DRRMOs in the province to prepare for typhoon Mawar, which would be called Betty should it enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Friday, May 26, or Saturday, May 27.
The typhoon is being monitored by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Mactan.
According to the public weather forecast and analysis of DOST Pagasa, although it has not yet affected the country, the entire Visayas is currently experiencing sporadic cloudy to cloudy skies with light rain or thunder and lightning due to localized thunderstorms or southwesterly wind flow.
But provincial disaster interim officer Wilson Ramos said it is better to prepare in advance while the typhoon has not yet arrived.
"We are just waiting for the forecast but it is important that the local DRRMOs are always prepared. They already had initial talks regarding that," Ramos said in Cebuano on Tuesday, May 23.
Ramos explained that even if the typhoon does not have a direct impact on Cebu, there are times when it will experience heavy rain.
For this reason, he asked the local disaster offices to closely monitor the barangays, particularly those near the river and low-lying areas.
Ramos also urged the residents to coordinate with the disaster risk personnel in their respective locations and listen to their advice to avoid danger.
"Follow lang ta sa instructions sa local chief executives nato sa barangay, sa LDRRMOs kon unsay angay buhaton kay dili man nato matag-an, although we are experiencing init pero naa man gyuy mga weather disturbance sama atong last Friday nga kusog gyud ang uwan," he stressed.
(Let's just follow the instructions of our local chief executives in the barangay, the LDRRMOs on what to do because we can't predict. Although we are experiencing heat but there are still weather disturbances like last Friday (May 19) when it rained really hard).
Pagasa Mactan reiterated its call on the public to be vigilant and always monitor the latest weather updates. (ANV, TPT)