Rolly forces 1 million people into evacuation centers in Bicol

About one million individuals have already evacuated in the Bicol Region as the country prepares for the expected onslaught of Typhoon Rolly, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Saturday.

At a briefing on Saturday, NDRRMC Administrator undersecretary Ricardo Jalad said the local government of Albay has already evacuated 174,616 families, which are composed of 794,000 persons.

Calaguas Islands in Camarines Norte has evacuated 1,329 families, composed of 6,645 individuals.

Camarines Sur also evacuated more than 46,100 families or almost 200,000 individuals.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila, which was also forecast to be hit by Rolly, has already evacuated those residing in vulnerable areas, including those in the waterways and those residing along the coasts of Manila Bay.

"Base sa track ng bagyo, ang susunod after Calabarzon it seems ay Metro Manila. Napag-usapan namin 'yun kanina sa meeting namin kasama ang MMDA at OCD NCR, at napag-usapan ang pangangailangang preemptive evacuation din dito sa Metro Manila," Jalad said.

In its 8 p.m. Saturday bulletin, PAGASA said the eye of the typhoon was located at 280 kilometers east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes at 7 p.m., with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 165 kph.

In its 5 p.m. bulletin, Rolly is forecast to cross the Southern Luzon-Metro Manila area, before exiting the mainland Luzon landmass on Monday early morning. -MDM, GMA News