A total of 12.02 million individuals, or 2.40 million families, in 290 cities are to be affected by Typhoon “Rosita, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Monday.
According to Edgar Posadas, NDRRMC director of operations, Rosita — internationally known as “Yutu” — is expected to cause flooding, landslides and storm surges in areas of Northern Luzon and Central Luzon.
“We have 290 cities and municipalities at risk for Typhoon Rosita: a total of 12.02 million individuals or 2.40 million families, 1.79 million of which are living below poverty line,” Posadas said in a press briefing.
The NDRRMC reported that Itogon province had started conducting forced evacuations on Monday in preparation of possible landslides in the area.
The NDRRMC is monitoring the situation in Cordillera Administrative Region, where it said landslides might occur.
Posadas said that the response cluster of the agency had been activated and NDRRMC was put on red alert status.
READ: NDRRMC on red alert for ‘Rosita’
NDRRMC advised the public to stay away from coasts as storm surges of up to 3 meters could take place.
“For those traveling for the holiday breaks, magu-Undas po, please wait for further announcement relevant to the announcement of sea trips. The public is advised to stay away from coasts and ditches and to cancel marine activities at this time,” Posadas said.
He said that, since the tropical cyclone warning signals had already been raised, gale warnings would be released and sea trips would be automatically canceled.
He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection were on standby for possible deployment of rapid deployment teams and search, rescue and retrieval cluster.
Rosita entered the Philippine area of responsibility on Saturday and is expected to make landfall by Tuesday morning, Oct. 30, somewhere in northern Aurora and southern Isabela. /atm