Thousands flee homes as Aurora braces for Pepito’s impact

Aurora. INQUIRER FILES

OLONGAPO CITY — Around 907 families or 2,844 individuals were evacuated anew in Aurora as Super Typhoon Pepito (international name: Man-yi) aims to make its landfall in the southern part of the province between noon or afternoon on Sunday (Nov. 17).

Elson Egargue, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO), said they conducted pre-emptive evacuation in Baler, Dinalungan, Dingalan and Dipaculao as early as Friday (Nov. 15).

Data from the PDRRMO showed that 2,835 of the evacuees are staying in evacuation centers, while nine are with their relatives who are living in safer areas.

The central and southern portions of the province (Dingalan, San Luis, Maria Aurora, Baler, Dipaculao and Dinalungan) are under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 4.

The rest of Aurora is under Signal No. 3, the state weather bureau said in its Sunday morning report.

Due to the combined effects of Typhoon Nika (international name: Toraji) and Ofel (international name: Usagi), six structures intended to protect the communities from flooding were totally destroyed.

These structures amount to more than P320 million.

43 houses were destroyed and 867 homes were damaged.

Thousand of residents were also evacuated during the onslaught of the two typhoons.