Isabela braces for 'Mina,' evacuates residents in coastal areas

Isabela province on Saturday placed its disaster management units on alert and moved to evacuate residents in coastal areas after the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that typhoon “Mina" had changed course toward Northern Luzon Isabela Vice Governor Ramon Reyes said the provincial government's preparations focused on at least four towns in the province near Aurora province, where “Mina" is due to make landfall Sunday evening. “As early as last night nakahanda ang Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, hinanda namin ang lahat ng mayors (As early as last night, we readied the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council and alerted the mayors)," Reyes said in an interview on dzRH radio. He said preparations would focus on Dinapigue, Palanan, Divilacan and Maconacon, the towns that are nearest to neighboring Aurora province. Maconacon is a fourth-class town with a population of 3,721 people in 786 households. Divilacan is a fourth-class town with a population of 3,413 people in 633 households. Palanan is a remote third-class town with a population of 15,317 people in 2,837 households. Dinapigue is a third-class town with a population of 3,171 people in 635 households. Reyes also said they had evacuated residents near rivers and in low-lying areas, especially near Cagayan River. He said the water in the river quickly rises during storms. Also, he said dump trucks, medicines and relief goods had been prepared for residents who would be affected by the typhoon. “So far passable all roads although mahirap kasi continuous heavy rains tatlong linggo na (So far the roads in Isabela are passable but it will be hard to travel because rains have been heavy in the past three weeks)," he said. Reyes also said Magat Dam might be opened to release excess water. At present, he said the water level has reached 193 meters, which is enough reserve water for the summer months. Meanwhile, in Bicol, Legazpi City mayor Noel Rosal said they were waiting for the go-signal from the Albay provincial disaster coordinating council before allowing residents in evacuation centers to go home. But Rosal, in a separate interview on dzRH, said some residents already started going home. “Sa ngayon bumabalik sila sa kanilang tahanan. Pero magkakaroon kami ng meeting before i-declare naming safe ang lungsod (Some residents are already going back to their homes. We will still have a meeting before we declare it safe for them to go home)," he said. Rosal admitted that many of the evacuees had to spend Friday night sleeping on the floor in some evacuation centers. He said figures as of 10 p.m., Friday showed that 7,513 families or 35,000 persons were in evacuation centers in the city. - GMANews.TV