Over 2,000 Albay folk evacuated; more remain in hazard areas

An initial batch of at least 528 families or 2,195 people from Albay province have been evacuated to safer ground as typhoon "Mina" (international codename: Mitag) continues to pose threats on local residents. The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said that as of noon Thursday, 501 families or 2,096 persons were from Camalig town while 21 families or 72 persons were from Sto. Domingo town. Other evacuees included two families (10 persons) from Bacacay and four (17 persons) from Tiwi town. NDCC said that as of Thursday, landslides have started to flow in areas in Sto. Domingo town, affecting several families. Disaster management officials on Wednesday identified some 236,000 people from 47,000 families need to be moved out of harm’s way before the typhoon’s landfall. Those who need to be evacuated are mostly from coastal towns in the eastern part of Albay, and those living around Mayon volcano. NDCC executive officer Glenn Rabonza said full evacuation is not expected to be completed on Thursday, saying this may extend until Saturday. “This will not be completed in several hours. We suppose it will continue up to tomorrow (Friday), even maybe on Saturday we will still see people evacuating," Rabonza said a telephone interview. - GMANews.TV