EVACUEE. An eldery woman in Batac City is evacuated as Typhoon Ompong is expected to hit northern Luzon. (Photo courtesy of the Batac City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council)
LAOAG CITY -- With Ilocos Norte under signal No. 2 due to Typhoon Ompong, more residents are being moved to evacuation centers as precautionary measures, with the province aiming for zero casualty.
As of Friday morning, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office said more than 2,000 persons living in low-lying areas were already evacuated in the towns of Bacarra, Pasuquin, Dingras, Pagudpud, and Batac.
Latest preemptive evacuation reported on Friday involved some 250 families or 700 persons from Casilian village in Bacarra, said Lilian Rin, provincial social welfare and development officer. Those residents were taken to the Bacarra municipal hall.
“We have four dump trucks to evacuate our residents living in the coastal areas,” Bacarra town councilor Dina Afaga said, adding that the local government unit has been on full alert since Thursday.
Like all other cities and municipalities here, rescue workers and other volunteers are all busy preparing for the typhoon, which has begun to make its presence felt with light rains, winds and occasional thunderstorms in some parts of the province.
“Some of those who refused to evacuate in Pasuquin town are now being dealt with by the police,” Governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos said during the third meeting in preparation for Typhoon Ompong at the Provincial Resiliency Office on Wednesday.
Through Executive Order No. 439-2018, the governor reiterated its call banning the sale, giving, offering, purchase, consumption, and serving of intoxicating drinks in the province “to mitigate the effects of the typhoon by preventing diminished mobility and other possible effects of liquor intoxication.”
Section 2 of the EO provides that any person caught under the influence of liquor may be held in custody until he or she regains sobriety.
The selling, giving, offering, and purchasing of such will likewise be sanctioned.
As of this posting, heavy trucks and rescue vehicles were already prepositioned in strategic areas of the province, including medicine supplies, blood supply, first aid kits, food packs, generator sets, and potable water supply. (PNA)
