Albay town prepares for ‘Ambo’ evacuation, disinfects shelters vs coronavirus

EARLY PREPS A school in Tiwi town, Albay province has started to decontaminate classrooms to be used as evacuation centers. Photo taken on May 13, 2020, Wednesday. —MARK ALVIC ESPLANA

TIWI, Albay—Rooms to be used in evacuation sites when Tropical Storm Ambo sweeps through Bicol on Thursday (May 14) are already being decontaminated to prevent transmission of SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Residents living in areas branded as vulnerable, or those prone to landslides and flooding, were expected to be moved out of their homes and brought to the evacuation sites when Ambo strikes.

Manuel Damo, Tiwi’s disaster risk reduction and management officer, said social distancing would be enforced in the evacuation sites.

Tiwi will use 300 rooms, or 50 percent more than what is normally used during the typhoon season, for residents of high-risk areas.

Damo said the local government would evacuate residents from Maynonong and Dapdap, two villages tagged by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to have fissures that could give way to landslides. Residents from the villages of Nagas, Naga and Joroan, which are flood-prone, would also be moved to evacuation sites.

He said water supply in evacuation camps would be adequate to allow evacuees to still heed the anti-coronavirus protocol of hand washing. Soap, alcohol and face masks would be provided.

As of Wednesday night, Tiwi remained to be COVID-19-free, although a facility in the town houses 17 people on quarantine.

Edited by TSB