Evacuees go home as Ruby weakens some more

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna – Evacuees in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) regions began returning to their homes Tuesday as cyclone “Ruby” weakened further to the category of a tropical depression.

Although the province continued to experience light to moderate rains, Batangas provincial disaster officer Lito Castro said several evacuees headed home Tuesday.

Similarly in Rizal, according to disaster officer Loel Malonzo, 429 families or 2,059 persons who were evacuated Monday evening started to leave the evacuation sites on Tuesday.

“The storm warning has been lifted and boat trips to Talim Island have resumed,” Malonzo said.

In Laguna, disaster officer Rommel Palacol placed the number of evacuees at 5,320 families or 23,676 persons.

“Some are going back home already but those living close to the Laguna Lake (sic – correct name is Laguna de Bay) opted to stay. We would start distributing relief by 12 noon today (Tuesday),” he said.

Palacol said the evacuees came from 20 of 30 lakeshore towns and cities.

As of Tuesday, the lake’s water level slightly increased to 11.80 meters from 11.55 meters on Monday. This, according to Emil Hernandez of the Laguna Lake Development Authority, was still “way below” the lake’s normal level of 12.50 meters during this time of the year.

In Quezon, most of the 64,000 evacuees have been returning home since Tuesday morning after taking shelter in 520 evacuation centers scattered across the province for the past two days.

Henry Buzar, provincial disaster risk reduction management council officer, said the evacuees were given more than 8,000 food packs by the provincial government.

Most of the evacuees started to return home after breakfast, he said.

In Mimaropa, regional disaster officer Eugene Cabrera said the evacuees, who numbered to 35,664 families or 149,101 persons, began heading back home, except for those in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

“The Naujan lake is still swollen; we’re afraid the continuous rain, although not that strong, might trigger a flash flood,” Cabrera said.