Nearly half a million evacuated in Bicol region due to ‘Nona’

Evacuees feel comforted by the presence of different Christmas lanterns hanged in classrooms turned evacuation centers at the Cabangan Elementary School in Camalig town while Albay province is bracing for Typhoon Nona. / Photo by Michael B. Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon

LEGAZPI CITY – Disaster and local government officials in Bicol have moved to safer areas nearly half a million people as the region, particularly Sorsogon and Albay provinces, brace for the entry of Typhoon ”Nona” (international name: Melor) by early evening Monday.

Thousands of relief goods have been packed, government hospitals are on alert with ready emergency medicines, and soldiers, policemen, Coast Guard personnel are on standby for search and rescue deployment when the typhoon slams through the region with maximum winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 185 kph.

As of noon Monday, private and government offices and most commercial establishments in Legazpi City and the other towns and cities of Albay and Sorsogon have closed. Massive Christmas trees and other decorations that adorned Legazpi’s Peñaranda Park have also been taken down.

In Sorsogon, where the typhoon was projected to make landfall sometime between 6-9 p.m., the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMC) said 148,223 individuals (29,015 families) have been evacuated in the towns of Bulan, Bulusan, Magallanes, Prieto Diaz and Sta. Magdalena as of noon.

Nona was projected to make landfall at about 7 p.m. Monday on the eastern seaboard of Sorsogon that stretches from the towns of Bulusan to Barcelona and Gubat, according to Ariel Doctama, public information officer of the Sorsogon PDRRMC.

Doctama said the typhoon’s path will slice into the province entering from the east and going west affecting all the 14 towns and Sorsogon City that have a total population of 740,000.

Based on the risk analysis of the Sorsogon PDRRMC, a total of 112 barangays are vulnerable to storm surge in the towns of Barcelona, Bulusan, Gubat, Matnog, Prieto Diaz, Sta. Magdalena and Sorsogon City with some 26,972 families or 134,870 individuals to be affected.

Storm surges are expected to reach up to four meters, according to the severe weather bulletin.

The number of barangays (villages) vulnerable to flooding comprised 211 to affect 67,185 families and a population of 332,593 all over the province.

The landslide-prone areas cover 141 barangays populated by about 28,727 families or 143,624 persons.

Sorsogon Gov. Raul Lee, PDRRMC chair, said they have distributed food to evacuees and are ready to respond with a calamity fund of P10 million.

Senior Supt. Ronaldo R. Cabral, Sorsogon provincial police chief, said they have started regulating and controlling the entry of vehicles to Matnog Port.

The number of persons stranded at in various Bicol ports, particularly in the town of Matnog, Luzon’s gateway to the Visayas and Mindanao, has risen to over a thousand persons, said a report from the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol (OCD 5).

Cabral said vehicles, especially trucks, are being halted and asked to park at designated areas in Sorsogon City and Casigural to avoid congestion and gridlock in the highway going to Matnog town.

He said these vehicles will be allowed to go on with their journey after the storm alert had been lifted.

In Albay, the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (Apsemo) has evacuated 346,944 persons (77,718 families) by noon Monday.

Massive evacuation was done practically in all towns and cities of Albay, according to Apsemo head Cedric Daep, as the province aims for a “zero casualty” goal amid a typhoon this severe.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said that once Typhoon Nona hits Gubat, Sorsogon at around 7 to 8 p.m., it will be felt in Albay.

“Almost 80 percent of Albay will feel the landfall,” Salceda said.

Bernardo Alejandro, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional director and concurrent RDCC chairperson, said that aside from Albay and Sorsogon, evacuation are also being implemented in the Camarines provinces though they are still waiting for their respective reports.

In Albay, the first to be evacuated were those residing in coastal, low lying villages in the towns of Daraga, Guinobatan, Tiwi, Oas, Libon, Sto Domingo, Manito, and Polangui.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Bicol said that as of 10 a.m. Monday there were 1,052 passengers stranded in the ports of Albay (334), Sorsogon (601), Masbate (107) and Catanduanes (10), while 212 trucks busses, and cars were likewise stranded in these ports.

The Department of Health (DOH) Bicol said that all government hospital across the region were on Code Red.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Typhoon Nona would cross Albay and Burias Island in Masbate after making landfall in Sorsogon early tonight.