‘Rolly’ causes massive evacuations in Luzon

Authorities ordered mass evacuations and prevented ferries and other vessels from navigating in waters off the country’s northeast coast on Friday, as they prepared for a possible super typhoon that was expected to hit northern Luzon later this weekend.

Typhoon “Rolly” (international name: Goni) already had maximum winds of 185 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 230 kilometers per hour when it was sighted about 980 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora province, on Friday afternoon.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the typhoon was moving 20 kph west towards Aurora and Quezon, which were expected to be whipped by winds of up to 195 kph Sunday night or early Monday.

In the Pagasa category of tropical cyclones, storms with winds greater than 220 km / h are considered super typhoons.

It hasn’t predicted that Rolly could become a super typhoon, but the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said Friday that sustained winds from the typhoon could reach 222 kph with gusts of up to 268 kph. kph for Sunday.

Forecaster Anna Clauren explained that the Pagasa reading could differ from the JWTC because Americans measure average sustained winds in just one minute, while Pagasa measures the average in 10 minutes.

Storm surge seen

The meteorological office said light to moderate and occasional heavy rains will be experienced through Saturday morning in Bicol, eastern and central Visayas, northern and northeastern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Batanes, Cagayan and Isabela due to the effects of the typhoon.

Storm surges of up to 2 meters could also hit coastal areas along the Rolly track, Pagasa said.

Don Culvera, a spokesman for the Camarines Norte Incident Management Team, said provincial authorities began on Friday morning to evacuate some 35,000 families, or 159,000 people, from high-risk areas, including Daet, the provincial capital.

The evacuation of residents of five coastal towns – Awitan, Bagasbas, Mambalite, San Isidro and Gubat – was a priority and would be completed by noon Saturday, said Santiago Mella, the town’s disaster risk reduction and management officer.

The typhoon was expected to be about 55 kilometers north of Daet on Sunday afternoon, according to Pagasa.

Quezon on red alert

Mella said they expected to complete the evacuation of families in other cities such as Vinzons, Mercedes, Paracale and Panganiban, which are prone to flash floods and landslides, by Saturday.

Quezón Governor Danilo Suárez put his province on red alert on Friday morning, according to Melchor Avenilla Jr., head of the Provincial Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.

Under red alert, operation and monitoring teams must be on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to emergencies once the weather disturbance worsens, he said.

Avenilla said that the authorities of all local government units in Quezon had already prepared evacuation centers.

He said the Philippine Coast Guard had stopped granting travel permits to ships in northern Quezon since Friday morning.

Aurora officials prepared food supplies, especially in Dingalan, in anticipation of flooding, which could isolate the coastal city.

Dingalan Mayor Sherwin Taay ordered the Municipal Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management to help evacuate families in lower villages.

Taay also banned fishing or small boat boating starting Friday and suspended classes and the distribution of learning modules for students from November 2-3.

The damage of ‘Quinta’ is still felt

Aurora and other provinces in Central Luzon are still recovering from the damage caused by two previous storms: Typhoon “Pepito” (international name: Saudel) and Typhoon “Quinta” (international name: Molave).

Quinta damaged a flood control project in the town of San Luis and caused flooding in the towns of Dilasag and Casiguran, all in Aurora.

In Nueva Écija province, the water level in the Pantabangan dam rose 4 m after Pepito and Quinta, according to the Integrated Irrigation System of the National Irrigation Administration of the Upper Pampanga River.

But the water level of the dam at 194.85 meters above sea level on Friday was still below the spill mark of 221 meters.

At Quinta, several highways in the town of Gabaldón, also in Nueva Ecija, were impassable due to floods.

In Pampanga province, 71 villages in at least seven cities remained flooded on Friday due to the flooding of the Pampanga river.

Flood water rose up to 2 m in parts of the city of Candaba.

The city of Claveria in Cagayan province was placed in a state of calamity on Thursday after it incurred P12 million in damages from landslides and floods.

The floods also affected 5,000 families, or 21,000 people, in the city’s 41 villages. At least 300 hectares of farms were also destroyed.

Also on Friday, the Isabela provincial government banned fishing and boating and imposed a ban on alcoholic beverages.

In Manila, the Tropical Medicine Research Institute (RITM) announced that it would suspend its laboratory operations on November 1 and 2 to prepare the facility for the onslaught of the typhoon.

RITM job suspended

RITM director Celia Carlos said the temporary closure was intended to ensure they could address potential damage to their building and equipment, “which at this point may not be able to withstand repeated typhoon attack.”

“We will continue with these risk mitigation measures fully understanding our part in the response to the ongoing outbreak, while ensuring the safety of our staff, stakeholders, and all those transporting samples to our facilities,” Carlos said in a statement. .

As the country’s main reference laboratory, RITM represents a considerable number of samples analyzed for the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. Since February, it has already processed more than 322,000 samples.

RITM’s precautionary measures include backing up files, data, systems, and programs in the event of rain damage and power outages. It has also made arrangements with the Department of Health for the emergency shipment of National Immunization Program vaccines stored at the facility. —REPORTS BY NIKKA G. VALENZUELA, JOVIC YEE, ARMAND GALANG, TONETTE OREJAS, VILLAMOR VISAYA JR., DELFIN T. MALLARI JR., REY ANTHONY OSTRIA, MA. APRIL WED-MANJARES AND INVESTIGATION INQ

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