Albay suspends classes, evacuates villagers as ‘Falcon’ passes Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Classes in all levels in Albay were suspended Thursday and the authorities started moving to safer ground villagers threatened by flooding and landslides as Tropical Storm “Falcon” passed near the Bicol region, bringing rains.

The weather bureau raised public storm Signal No. 1 in four Bicol provinces, meaning these areas were expected to experience cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rains and thunderstorm while seas in the eastern and western seaboards were going to be rough to very rough with waves as high as 3.7 to 5.5 meters high.

The Albay Provincial Safety and Emergency Management Offic (APSEMO) dispatched on Thursday six military trucks to evacuate people living in low-lying areas and mountain slopes in the municipalities of Guinobatan, Oas, Polangui and Libon, as well as some areas in Legazpi City.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said he ordered all classes in the province suspended and directed local disaster councils affected by flooding to immediately evacuate people at risk should the weather worsen.

Salceda said the evacuation began Wednesday evening in the flood-prone villages of Subcad, Laniga and Gabon in the munipality of Polangui.

He said also issued an advisory directing maritime authorities to prevent small ships and other vessels from leaving various ports in the province.

The Philippine Coast Guard on Thursday suspended maritime operations in the provinces of Catanduanes, Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte due to the strong winds.

The PCG report said that as of 6 a.m. Thursday, there were 210 passengers, three buses, 15 trucks, one light vehicle and nine cargo trucks and three foreign vessels stranded in the Port of Tabaco.

All municipal and city disaster risk reduction management councils were advised to be on 24-hour alert and to take the necessary contingency measures in areas vulnerable to landslides and flash floods.

Disaster authorities here also advised villagers living near river channels not to attempt to cross flash floods and swelling rivers.

Civil Aviation authorities said the airlines decided to cancel flights to and from Manila.

Meanwhile, the government of the island municipality of Rapu-rapu has alerted officials of 10 villages identified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as highly vulnerable to landslide. These are Mancao Villahermosa, Bilbao, Binosawan, Calanaga, Liguan, Caracaran, Morocborocan, Nagcalsot and Bagaobawan.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its 5 a.m. bulletin that Tropical Storm Falcon continued to threaten extreme Northern Luzon.

Falcon as of 4 a.m. was located 250 km northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph. It was moving west northwest at a speed of 19 kph.

Pagasa raised Signal No. 1 in the provinces of Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Isabela, Cagayan, Calayan, Babuyan, and the Batanes Group of Islands.