PILAR, Bataan – Equipment have been put in place in flood-prone areas of the province, ready to respond when the need arises, Governor Albert Garcia said Friday.
Bataan, as of this posting, is under typhoon signal No. 1, with “Ompong” spotted at 470 km. east of Baler, Aurora, according to a bulletin released by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) past 2 p.m.
At the Bataan Command Center in Orani town, two big fiber boats are on standby, ready for deployment to areas with deep flooding. Various materials for rescue operations have also been prepared.
Pilar town Mayor Alice Pizarro said they are ready with their small boats or bancas.
“Medyo maliliit ang areas sa Pilar na binabaha. Nakapagsagawa na kami ng pre-disaster risk assessment kahapon to assess our preparedness. Nakaikot na rin ang mga tauhan ng municipal disaster risk reduction and management office para magbigay ng warning sa mga barangay (The areas in Pilar that are being flooded are somewhat small. We have conducted a pre-disaster risk assessment yesterday to assess our preparedness. The municipal disaster risk reduction and management office personnel are also in the process of alerting villages),” the mayor said.
“Nakahanda na ang mga equipment at pre-positioned na rin ang mga relief goods. Nakagawa na ng paghahanda ang munisipyo (The equipment are ready and the relief goods were already pre-positioned. The municipal government has already made preparations),” Pizarro added.
She said they are monitoring four coastal barangays and two upland villages considered as landslide-prone.
“Nagbigay na kami ng babala para sa preemptive evacuation. Handa na rin ang iba’t ibang agencies kasama ang pulisya kung kailangan ang forced evacuation. Sana safe ang lahat at walang casualty (We have already issued a warning for preemptive evacuation. Various agencies are also ready, including the police if there is a need for forced evacuation. Hopefully, everything is safe and there would be no casualty),“ Pizzaro said. (Ernie Esconde/PNA)
