PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan – About 2,131 families or 8,016 individuals have been preemptively evacuated from their homes in 10 coastal villages in this city and 11 municipalities in Palawan as Tropical Depression Agaton traversed the province’s central portion.
Here in Puerto Princesa, an estimated 607 families (3,035 individuals) dwelling in 10 coastal villages that are prone to strong winds and storm surges were evacuated Tuesday evening, Richard Ligad, City Information Office (CIO) chief and designated spokesperson of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC), said Wednesday morning.
“As of now, they’re all good. Mayor (Lucilo) Bayron directed the City Health Office to make rounds in evacuation centers and check the health condition of our evacuees,” he said.
Ligad added that the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) has already distributed food packs to 533 families.
“Up until now, food pack distribution is ongoing,” he said. “We’re glad that most of them preemptively, voluntarily evacuated and no casualty has been reported, so far.”
In Jacana, Barangay Bancao-Bancao in this city, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) caught up with the family of 14-year-old Rodrigo Makaraya, whose home was seriously damaged by Agaton’s burly winds that coincided with high tide.
“Sira po ang bahay ng mga kapitbahay namin. Sa amin, ganoon din po, kaya kagabi pumunta na kami sa school, kasi lampas bahay na ang alon, nakakatakot (All the homes of our neighbors were destroyed. Even our home was not spared. That is why last night, we evacuated to the school. The tide from the sea was very high, almost as tall as the houses. It was scary),” Makaraya said.
In the barangay where he lives close to the water, more than 10 homes were totally destroyed, including the footbridge that residents use to cross to reach their homes.
Makaraya’s neighbor, housewife Marilyn Iyao, was emptying her shanty of seawater and wood debris that managed to get in.
“Basa lahat ng gamit namin dahil sa alon. Ang taas masyado kaya tumakbo na agad kami kagabi doon sa school. Sumabay kasi sa high tide ang hangin (All our things were wet because of the waves. It was so high, that is why we immediately rushed to the school last night. The wind and the high tide came together),” Iyao said.
In the province, fresh reports claimed 1,524 families (roughly 4,981 individuals) were proactively evacuated in 11 municipalities. Many of them spent Tuesday night in evacuation centers and some, with host families, as sturdy winds battered their homes along the coast.
The evacuees are from Sofronio Española, Bataraza, and Quezon in southern Palawan, and Magsaysay, Araceli, Taytay, Roxas, Dumaran, Culion, Cuyo, and Busuanga.
“We are thankful that unlike in other provinces, our residents here easily listen when you tell them to evacuate for their safety. They themselves went to the evacuation centers,” information officer and Provincial DRRMC spokesperson Gil Acosta Jr. said Wednesday morning.
He added that some of the people have left the evacuation centers to return to their homes early Wednesday, bringing with them the food packs distributed by their municipal DRRMCs.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Tropical Storm Vinta had increased to 37, while 60 individuals remain missing, said Acosta. Search and retrieval operations continue in the vicinity of Mangsee Island to as far as Mapun, Tawi-Tawi and the neighboring shores of Malaysia.
About 17 fatalities had been identified, so far, Acosta said, as they continue to verify reports that five bodies had been found in the southern town of Quezon, Palawan, and three in a coastal area of Sabah, Malaysia.
Acosta said they would coordinate with their counterparts in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area to confirm if those found are from Mangsee. (With reports from Keith Anthony Fabro/PNA)
