CALAMBA CITY, Laguna — More than 6,000 people living along the Laguna de Bay shoreline towns of Rizal and Laguna, and island villages of Cavite, Batangas and Quezon were moved to safer grounds during a preemptive evacuation Friday night due to Typhoon Ompong.
Director of the Office of Civil Defense – Regional Risk Reduction and Management Council (OCD-RDRRMC) 4-A (Calabarzon) Olivia Luces told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that their Operations Center remains in Blue Alert as they are constantly monitoring the effects of the typhoon, including the enhancement of communications system with local DRRMCs across the region.
Luces said the local DRRM offices have conducted their preemptive evacuations for communities vulnerable to flooding, storm surges, landslides and other hazards as they assess the weather situation with rains and strong winds affecting the areas.
She said no there was no reported casualty or untoward incident as of press time.
As of midnight Friday, some 1,168 residents were moved to evacuation centers in the Laguna lakeshore towns of Bay with 127; Calauan, 57; Kalayaan, 181; Los Baños, 134; Mabitac, 125; Paete, 21; Pakil, 18; Pangil, 127; Pila , 11; Siniloan, 111; Sta. Cruz, 29; Santa Maria, 34; and Calamba City, 193.
In Batangas province, some 47 residents of the island town of Tingloy were also evacuated and eight in Batangas City.
In Rizal province, some 68 residents were assisted by the local DRRMO in Binangonan; Jalajala, 192; Rodriguez, 755; Tanay, 43; and Taytay, 99.
LGUs through their LDRRMOs also conducted preemptive evacuations of 376 residents of San Francisco town and 15 from Polillo Island, both in Quezon province.
The Cavite PDRRMO reported that as of 8 a.m. Saturday, they conducted preemptive evacuations of some 3,306 residents, especially from the flood-prone and coastline towns of Noveleta, with 167; Cavite City, 2,130; Rosario, 387; and 622 in Tanza.
Luces also said members of the regional and provincial Quick Response Teams (QRTs) have maintained their heightened alert status, including trained personnel on Camp Coordination and Camp Management who are overseeing some 3,838 evacuation centers — 421 in Cavite; 449 in Laguna; 921 in Batangas; 438 in Rizal, and 1,609 in Quezon province. (Saul Pa-a/PNA)
