‘Ruby’ drives 3,000 families to shelters

As classes throughout Metro Manila Tuesday were suspended for the second day in a row, nearly 3,000 families waited it out in evacuation centers for Tropical Storm “Ruby” which was expected to lash the metropolis Monday night.

At the same time, the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC) warned the public to watch out for three major hazards caused by Ruby: strong winds, storm surges and floods/landslides.

With memories of a storm surge that washed out homes still fresh in their minds, thousands of residents in the coastal area of Baseco in Manila fled their seaside homes to seek shelter in evacuation centers as they waited for Ruby.

Officials of Barangay (village) 649 which spans the entire Baseco Compound which is home to 53,000 people in the Port Area of Tondo, Manila, said it had been easier to urge residents to leave the area since Typhoon “Pedring” hit the community with a powerful storm surge in 2011.

“After that storm in which hundreds of houses built on the coast of Manila Bay were washed out, it was easier for us to convince residents to leave their houses to evacuate when the weather turns bad,” said Edith Castillo, a Barangay 649 councilor.

“They have really learned their lesson about the perils of storm surges,” added Castillo, also the camp manager of the Baseco Evacuation Center.

This was certainly the case when barangay officials first went around in Baseco on Saturday morning, asking residents to move out.

Jean Puson, who manages a small store in the area, was among the first to move out with her family.

“My store, which was built on the shoreline, was among the hundreds of houses and other structures washed out… in 2011,” she said.

Traumatic experience

“It was a traumatic experience which we were lucky to avoid as our house is not near the coast,” she added. “We have 13 people living in my house, including my children, my cousins and their children. So every time a typhoon rolls in, we try to evacuate as fast as we can.”

As of noon on Monday, the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) said that a total of 1,712 families or 5,340 individuals had moved into various evacuation centers in the Baseco area.

Johnny Yu, MDRRMO head, said that the city was still conducting preemptive evacuation for families near the shoreline. “We are continuously monitoring the wind and the rain to determine if we will order a forced evacuation,” he told the Inquirer.

In a meeting with local government officials and representatives of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other government agencies, MMDRRMC head and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino said that around 1,000 rescue personnel had been stationed throughout the metropolis.

“We have deployed about 170 MMDA personnel [to] the south alone,” Tolentino said, noting that the updated Pagasa forecast showed that the southern part of Metro Manila, particularly Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Taguig, Pateros, Pasay and Makati, would be most affected by Ruby.

He explained that under Oplan Metro Yakal, Metro Manila had been divided into four quadrants with an MMDA rescue team assigned to each area.

The south response team, according to Tolentino, was stationed at the South-West Integrated Provincial Transport in Parañaque while the west team which covers Manila, Malabon and Valenzuela had been prepositioned at the Gwapotel Inn on Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila.

“The eastern team will have its command post at the MMDA station on C5 Libis in Quezon City and the north deployment team will be in position at the corner of Timog Avenue and Edsa in Quezon City,” he added.

In its report to the MMDRRMC, Pagasa warned residents to prepare for strong winds, possible flooding with landslides and storm surges even though Ruby had been downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm.

In preparation for the evacuation of thousands of residents, the DSWD National Capital Region said that about 17,000 food packs good for two days were ready for distribution among the 17 local government units (LGUs).

Tolentino asked the DSWD to distribute the food packs within the day as he also asked LGU representatives to report hourly to the MMDA headquarters in Makati City starting at 5 p.m.

Metro cops to pitch in

“We will maintain a quick response team here at the headquarters in case there is a need for additional help in some areas,” he added as he noted that about 200 NCRPO policemen would pitch in during rescue and relief operations.

In Makati City, a command post had already been set up at the ground floor lobby of city hall with emergency vehicles ready for deployment to different villages. At press time, the city has yet to evacuate residents in some critical areas as it urged them to call the 168 hotline for immediate concerns and emergencies.

In Pasay City, residents living along Tripa de Gallina, Malibay and Maricaban creeks had been moved to evacuation centers as a precaution.

At 2 p.m. Monday, the Taguig Public Information Office said there were no evacuations carried out in the city although several schools and public buildings had been designated as shelters. These included the Cayetano Sports Complex in Bagumbayan, R.P. Cruz Elementary School and the barangay covered court in New Lower Bicutan, and C.P. Tiñga Elementary School in Hagonoy.

As of 11 a.m. in Muntinlupa, based on a report to Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, there were 18 families or 90 individuals staying at the Sucat Elementary School; 70 families or 350 individuals at the Cupang Mullet covered court; 25 families or 95 individuals at the Buli covered court; 58 families or 290 individuals at the Alabang Elementary School; and 89 families or 445 individuals at Poblacion Central Elementary School.

In Barangay Zapote in Las Piñas City—an area close to Manila Bay—a public market serving as a temporary shelter was holding 340 families as of 2 p.m., according to Jimmy Castillano, the city’s public information officer.

Zareena Lamberte of the research and planning division of the Parañaque Disaster Risk Reduction and Management unit, said that as of as of 2:30 a.m. on Monday, there were 62 families or 229 individuals who had evacuated to La Huerta Elementary School, and 242 families or 1160 individuals in Sto. Niño Elementary School.

Meanwhile, as of 2 p.m. in Marikina City, at least 547 families or 2,418 individuals from the flood-prone barangays of Tumana, Nangka and Malanday were in evacuation centers. The city government has designated at least 22 shelters all over Marikina. With Kristine Felisse Mangunay, Jaymee T. Gamil and Jovic Yee