8,319 Isabela residents move to safe ground before ‘Ompong’ makes landfall
CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela – As many as 8,319 residents of low-lying communities moved to safer ground on Friday after weather experts said Typhoon “Ompong” has veered towards the province.
Most of the evacuees come from the four coastal towns of Maconacon (440 families or 1,498 people), Divilacan (232 families or 1,146 people), Palanan (382 families or 1,469 people) and Dinapigue (204 families or 679 people).
Except for Dinapigue, the three other coastal towns are accessible only by airplane or by boat.
The typhoon has alarmed farmers like Burgos town resident Bonifacio Senardo who said his fields are planted with palay that have not matured.
“We cannot do anything now but pray my crops would be spared,” said Senardo, whose farm is among the 141,699-hectares of rice fields vulnerable to Ompong’s onslaught.
