Aurora province is now preparing for a possible landfall of Super Typhoon Pepito (international name: Man-Yi) over its southern portion on Sunday afternoon, its provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO) said.
Citing state weather bureau PAGASA, Aurora PDRRMO head Engineer Elson Egargue said that Pepito may make a landfall over the province by 2 p.m. Sunday.
“Kahapon pa po ay nagpalikas na kami ng aming mga kababayan na nasa dalampasigan o ‘yung mga nasa landslide-prone [areas],” Egargue said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
(Yesterday we evacuated our residents from the coast or those in landslide-prone areas.)
Currently, he said 13,341 individuals or 4,089 families were transferred to evacuation centers in various municipalities.
Tourism activities in Aurora were also suspended due to Pepito. Tourist police were also deployed to monitor surfing sites.
Egargue advised residents to be cautious, especially within the day, as Pepito is expected to pass through the province.
“According sa PAGASA, nasa [the super typhoon will bring rain amounting to] 200 millimeter ang kanyang ibibigay na ulan. Intense to torrential [rain],” he said.
The central and southern portions of Aurora (Dingalan, San Luis, Maria Aurora, Baler, Dipaculao, Dinalungan) were placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 4 as of 8 a.m. on Sunday.
The rest of Albay, meanwhile, was under TCWS No. 3.
According to PAGASA, Pepito will pass close or over Polillo Islands by late Sunday morning, before making landfall over northern Quezon or central or southern Aurora between noon and afternoon.
At 11 a.m., TCWS No. 4 was raised over the entire province of Aurora.
The center of the eye of Pepito was also last seen 120 km east southeast of Baler, Aurora at 10 a.m., with a maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h near the center, gustiness of up to 230 km/h, and central pressure of 935 hPa.
Pepito is expected to move generally west northwestward or northwestward and is seen to make landfall in the vicinity of Aurora on Sunday afternoon.
Other provinces
In Albay, PDRRMO director Engr. Dante Baclao said that over 380,000 individuals or 104,000 families remained in evacuation centers even as rains started to decrease in the morning.
The storm surge in the eastern seaboard of Albay also brought floods to several coastal barangays in the province on Saturday. Despite this, Baclao said that electricity and mobile phone signals remained accessible.
“Lahat ng LGUs, may mga inilikas gawa ng malawak kasi ang sakop ng bagyong Pepito. Hindi lang sa storm surge, meron din tayong lahar flow, mud flow, sa hangin, at sa flooding na kinonsider natin kaya ganon karami ang target population natin for evacuation,” he added.
(All local government units have residents who were evacuated because of the wide coverage of Pepito. We considered not just the storm surge, but also the lahar flow, mud flow, the wind, and flooding for the target population in our evacuation efforts.)
In Catanduanes, PDRRMO Operations and Warning Officer Roberto Monterola said that the weather on Sunday morning has improved as compared to Saturday night.
He noted that around 300 individuals in the capital were still in evacuation centers.
Polillo Island public information officer Geneva Mopera, meanwhile, said that 4,600 individuals or 1,410 families are currently evacuated in the island amid Pepito.
She said that Polillo Island is in need of additional food packs for affected residents.
“Medyo mahirap ang signal sa amin ngayon dahil ang ano lang namin sa internet is Starlink na medyo bumabagal ngayon dahil maulap at malakas ang ulan… May mga part na na nag-brownout,” Mopera said.
(The signal is a bit difficult now as our source of internet is slowing down because it is cloudy and raining heavily… Some parts of the island have power interruption.)
In Camarines Norte, information officer Sarah Abiado said that over 16,000 individuals were preemptively evacuated because of the typhoon.
There were 300 sacks of rice that were also distributed in various parts of the province.
Abiado said floods in the province have also subsided.
“Sa monitoring namin, ‘yung mga coastal areas natin ay hindi naman ganun kataas ang [baha]. Walang baha na significant hindi kagaya nung nakaraang Kristine na hanggang dibdib,” she explained.
(Based on our monitoring, the flood in our coastal areas was not that high. There is no flood that is significant unlike during Typhoon Kristine when the flood reached chest-high.)
—RF, GMA Integrated News
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