Almost 2,000 flee ‘Amang’ in Sorsogon; 1,400 stranded in Mimaropa

NAGA CITY–Almost 2,000 people were evacuated by military and police disaster units in Sorsogon as Tropical Storm “Amang” crossed from Samar to Bicol before dawn Sunday, the Army said.

Amang (international name: Mekkhala) also rendered thousands of passengers and cargoes stranded in various sea ports in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) region.

Lieutenant Clint Antipala, spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 903rd Infantry Brigade covering Sorsogon, said 1,879 individuals were evacuated by the Army and Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel during the preemptive evacuations in the province which started Saturday night.

He said some of the residents voluntarily evacuated to temporary shelters in Sorsogon as Amang started dumping rains and strong wind over Bicol.

Captain Mardjorie Panesa, public information officer of Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Pili, Camarines Sur, said 32 families were evacuated from Sorsogon City; 30 in Juban town; 12 in Bulusan; 164 in Casiguran; 110 in Prieto Diaz; and 77 in Magdalena.

Antipala said the local government units in Sorsogon and Masbate implemented preventive power outage in the provinces since last night before Amang hit Sorsogon at 3 a.m. Sunday.

He added that the evacuees may come home during the day since Sorsogon experienced very minimal damage.

The Mimaropa Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, in its bulletin issued early Sunday, said the number of stranded passengers reached 1,370. Also stranded were 118 rolling cargo and 22 sea vessels since the authorities suspended port operations on January 17.

Of the nine ports in the region, only those in Puerto Princesa and Coron, both in Palawan, remain operational. Trips and operations are suspended in the ports of Calapan City and Dangay in Oriental, Mindoro; Abra de Ilog in Occidental Mindoro; Balanacan and Cawit in Mindoro; and in Poctoy and Romblon in Romblon province, due to the inclement weather.

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