OCD orders preemptive evacuations in Caraga

By ERWIN MASCARINAS
Correspondent .

BUTUAN City – The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC) in Caraga yesterday ordered preemptive evacuations in disaster-prone communities due to bad weather conditions and as tropical depression “Samuel” threatened to make landfall in the region.

Liza Mazo, OCD regional director and concurrent head of Caraga’s disaster risk reduction management council, said local governments were already informed about the need for preemptive evacuations.

“We are ordering our LGUs across the five provinces in Caraga to take measures and order preemptive evacuations along low-lying flood-prone communities, populated mountainous areas that are landslide-prone as well as those in coastal and river basin areas,” said Mazo.

Mazo said “Samuel” was expected to pick up strength, and “we need our LGUs to be pro-active” given that many areas in Caraga are vulnerable to floods and landslides.

Lolita Vinalay, chief meteorological officer of Pagasa weather station here, said, the storm could track further downward or upward “as it is moving right now at a very erratic phase.”

Vinalay noted: “Yesterday, we monitored it to be moving at a speed of around 20 (kph), then 25. Earlier, it was at 15, and then 25.”

Vinalay said if “Samuel” moves slow, it would likely bring in more rain.

Meanwhile in Davao City, the local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office raised Alert Level 1, activating its monitoring system yesterday, in anticipation of the possible effects of “Samuel.”

Davao City information officer Jefry Tupas said the city’s Response Cluster Representatives are already on standby for the weather disturbance that “Samuel” may pose to the eastern parts of Mindanao.

Pagasa said the trough of “Samuel” will bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Caraga region and Davao Oriental.

In the advisory released by the Davao’s DRRMO, it said the swelling of the Davao River could affect downstream communities of Tamugan riverside, Tigatto, Jade Valley, Barangay 19, Sangilangan Maa, GEM Village, portions of San Rafael, and Bankerohan Riverside.

The Davao city government is also monitoring the Bunawan River, which could affect Bunawan proper. Two areas in Bunawan were recently flooded due to heavy rains in the Paquibato District.

Tupas said these communities have been alerted by the disaster teams for possible flooding. (with reports from PNA)