Tens of thousands along the country’s eastern coastal provinces on Saturday fled to evacuation centers ahead of the landfall of Tropical Storm “Chedeng,” expected early Sunday, in Isabela province.
As of 4 p.m. Saturday, Chedeng (international name: Maysak) was spotted 340 kilometers southeast of Casiguran in Aurora province, moving west northwest at 20 kilometers per hour with peak winds of 115 kph near the center, gusting up to 145 kph.
Chedeng developed into a supertyphoon in the Pacific early in the week, killing four people and destroying hundreds of homes in Micronesia. The off-season storm lost its punch as it swept toward the Philippines.
The weather bureau downgraded Chedeng into a storm on Saturday. It said winds and rain were expected Saturday night in the eastern provinces before the expected landfall.
The storm comes as the nation celebrates Easter. Many local and foreign tourists were in beach resorts, including popular surfing areas in the north for the Holy Week holidays, when Chedeng headed toward the country.
Nigel Lontoc, assistant director of the Office of Civil Defense, said some 24,000 people in Aurora were being evacuated, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
READ: 24,000 to be evacuated as ‘Chedeng’ closes in on PH
During a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas urged mayors to be on alert.
“I encourage the mayors to seriously consider undertaking forced evacuation for the safety of our constituents and visitors,” Roxas said.
Assistant Social Welfare Secretary Cheche Cabrera said that in Aurora alone about 10,000 visitors mostly Filipinos were told to leave beach resorts and inns.
Critical hours
“The critical hours will be in the evening of Saturday,” said Office of Civil Defense Administrator Alexander Pama. “We need to double up the preparations because it is harder to move around in the dark.”
Although Chedeng had weakened, Pama said it would still bring moderate to heavy rains when it hit land early Sunday.
“We’re not saying Chedeng no longer poses danger. It could still cause destruction,” he said.
Interior Undersecretary Austere Panadero said the storm could affect 33 cities and close to 500 towns in more than two dozen provinces. Preemptive evacuations have been ordered in communities prone to flash floods and landslides, Panadero said.
Mayor Nelianto Bihasa of Baler, capital of Aurora province, on Friday ordered all tourists in resorts to leave or face forced evacuation. He also told resort owners to advise guests headed to Baler to postpone trips.
READ: Tourists ordered to evacuate Baler due to threat of ‘Chedeng’
Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in a command conference on Saturday directed troops in Aurora and Isabela to prepare to act as first responders.
“Along with other government agencies, our troops have also identified areas prone to landslides and flooding, including those that are close to the coastlines and are at risk for possible storm surges,” Catapang said.
“Let us give equal attention to tourists, both local and foreigners who are vacationing in these areas and who may be trapped in beach resorts,” he said.
In Aurora, around 700 of 7,000 tourists opted to stay in Baler, enabling authorities to focus more on the preemptive evacuation of coastal communities, Mayor Nelianto Bihasa said on Saturday.
He said he expected hotels, transient homes and restaurants in Baler to lose money because visitors canceled reservations or cut short their stay. “It’s better to be safe,” he added.
At noon Saturday, tourists who spent the Lenten break in Baguio City lined up at bus terminals for their trips back to Metro Manila, interior Cordillera or to other provinces in northern and central Luzon.
Authorities and local governments were rushing to evacuate coastal areas of Camarines Sur in anticipation of storm surges, said Che Bermeo, head of the Environment Disaster Management and Emergency Response Office. The office was focusing on the coastal villages in the towns of Garchitorena, Caramoan, Presentacion, Siruma and Balatan.
Storm warnings
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services (Pagasa) said the tropical storm was expected to make landfall in Isabela between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday.
READ: ‘Chedeng’ weakens as it nears landfall
Storm Signal No. 3 was raised in Isabela and Aurora while Signal No. 2 was up in northern Quezon, Nueva Ecija, southern Cagayan, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Catanduanes.
The rest of Cagayan including Babuyan Island, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, the rest of Quezon including Polillo Island, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur were under Signal No. 1.
Warnings on possible storm surges were lifted as the storm continued to weaken, weather forecaster Jun Galang said in a press briefing on Saturday.
Heavy seas
But areas near the center of the storm should still be wary of sea surface waves of up to 6 to 8 meters, Galang added.
Provinces that will be affected directly by Chedeng are Abra, Cagayan, Aurora, Apayao, Ifugao, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.
“These areas are within 100-km radius from the center of the storm,” Galang said.
“The intensity of the storm and heavy rains will be felt in these areas,” he added.
Metro Manila will experience light to moderate rains on Sunday while Palawan, Visayas and Mindanao will have fair weather.
Pagasa said “good weather” would prevail in the country on Easter Monday as Chedeng was expected to leave the Philippine area of responsibility in the morning. With reports from AFP, Marlon Ramos and Cynthia D. Balana in Manila; Tonette Orejas, Anselmo Roque and Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon; Villamor Visaya Jr. and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Shiena M. Barrameda, Inquirer Southern Luzon.
LIST: Areas likely to be hit by storm surges caused by ‘Chedeng’
‘Chedeng’ to be felt Saturday night; Signal No. 2 up in 10 provinces