Camarines Sur orders mandatory evacuation in high-risk areas

INQUIRER FILES

LEGAZPI CITY — The Camarines Sur government ordered on Tuesday, Oct. 22, the mandatory evacuation of residents in areas prone to flooding, landslides, and storm surges.

In a memorandum, Gov. Vincenzo Renato Luigi Villafuerte said all the local officials were advised to identify the most vulnerable communities and facilitate evacuation.

Earlier, Albay also ordered the evacuation of people living near the lahar and high-risk areas.

The noon report of the Office of Civil Defense Bicol shows that 185 families or 695 persons were evacuated from Camarines Sur, Masbate, Catanduanes, and Camarines Norte.

Around 1,917 families or 2,354 persons were affected by the weather disturbance while 2,450 passengers, 150 rolling cargoes, and five sea vessels were stranded in seaports.

At least 40 trucks were also stranded in Del Gallego town in Camarines Sur after the Land Transportation Office and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board suspended the travel of vehicles going to Masbate, Catanduanes, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Several bridges and roads were impassable due to overflowing rivers and landslides in the different provinces in the Bicol region.