Residents in path of supertyphoon told to evacuate

The newly-acquired rubber boats following blessing ceremony Wednesday at Philippine Coastguard in Manila, in preparation for the onslaught of super typhoon Haiyan which is expected to make a landfall in central Philippines this weekend. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — Pre-emptive evacuation was advised in areas in the path of potential supertyphoon “Haiyan,” the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said on Wednesday.

Residents along the coastal areas, particularly of the western coast in Eastern Samar, Samar and Leyte, were advised to evacuate as Haiyan barreled towards the Philippines.

“The local chief executives are updated and they were given a list of areas that are dangerous because of heavy rains,” Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said at an NDRRMC briefing.

The NDRRMC earlier identified that the affected areas will be Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol region, Visayas region, Northern Mindanao, Caraga and National Capital Region.

These areas already went on blue alert on Tuesday in preparation for the typhoon. The NDRRMC headquarters was on red alert since the earthquake in Bohol last October15.

Strongest typhoon in Visayas for 2013

Vicente Malano, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said Haiyan, which will be called “Yolanda” once it enters the Philippines, will be the strongest typhoon in the Visayas for this year.

Based on the latest forecast, Yolanda will enter the Philippine area of responsibility by early Thursday. It will make landfall in Eastern Visayas by Friday afternoon.

Malano clarified that Haiyan, although a powerful cyclone, is not the strongest cyclone to hit the country this year.

Typhoon Odette (international name Usagi) remained to be the strongest cyclone in the Philippines this year. Its strongest winds when it lashed Batanes last September was up to 215 kilometers per hour.

Typhoon Haiyan based on the satellite image of Project NOAH as of 5:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Malano said that the strength of Haiyan when it hits land would be up to 200 kph.

Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman said that food packs were already prepared for distribution

“The food packs are already prepositioned. It’s now on the provincial level. We have P195 million worth of goods and money distributed in all the field offices,” she said.

Bohol a ‘special concern’

Although the province of quake-hit Bohol will not be directly affected, it also boosted its preparations ahead of typhoon Haiyan.

“[Bohol] is a special concern because they just came from a disaster. Although it was mentioned that it won’t be directly hit, they were told to prepare. The patients in  hospitals housed in makeshift tents were told to transfer to buildings with concrete structures,” Defense Secretary and NDRRMC Chairman Voltaire Gazmin  said.

Classes were already cancelled in the provinces of Bohol, Cebu and Albay starting Thursday as Haiyan is expected to enter the country.

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