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At least 56K people flee as Ompong smashes northern Luzon —NDRRMC


At least 56,000 people have been evacuated so far when Typhoon Ompong smashed into northern Luzon Saturday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councial said.

NDRRMC Executive Director and Office of Civil Defense Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad said in an interview with Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday morning that preemptive evacuation was conducted in areas expected to be directly affected by Ompong's 250-kilometer diameter. Some 4.9 million people are covered by the typhoon's diameter.

 

Evacuees are seen inside an evacuation center in preparation for Typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong) in Gonzaga town in Cagayan on Thursday, September 13, 2018. LGU Gonzaga/Reuters

 

The exposed areas include Kalinga, Apayao, and Mt. Province in Region 1 in Cordillera Administrative Region; Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur in Region 1; and Isabela and Cagayan in Region 2.

"Malaki naman ang preemptive evacuation pero hindi ganoon kalaki kumpara sa assessment natin ng vulnerable population, doon sa ating assessment ng exposed population," Jalad said.

The NDRRMC official said of the 4.9 million exposed population, almost 1 million are poor and vulnerable.

"Kaya hinihimok natin na lakihan pa ang evacuation, magtrabaho ang local government units na magsagawa ng evacuation... Gamitin nila lahat ang dapat gamitin para sa evacuation," Jalad said.

Ompong made landfall over Baggao, Cagayan at 1:40 a.m. on Saturday.

As of 7 a.m., it was over Kabugao in Apayao.

Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 4 remained hoisted over Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, and Babuyan Group of Islands on Saturday morning. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News

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