18 provinces under storm warning signals – PAGASA
A total of 18 Mindanao provinces have been placed under a tropical cyclone warning signal (TWCS) due to tropical storm “Vinta” that is expected to make a landfall between late last night and this morning over the CaragaDavao Region.
Based on the weather bulletin
issued at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) placed under Signal No. 2 the provinces of Surigao del Norte (including Siargao Islands), Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur in Caraga Region and northern part of Davao Oriental in Davao Region.
Signal No. 1 has been hoisted over Dinagat Island in Caraga Region; Camiguin Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Bukinon and Lanao del Norte in Northern Mindanao; Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; Cotabato in Soccsksargen; and, rest of Davao Oriental, northern part of Davao del Sur, and Compostela Valley in Davao Region.
Some provinces in Visayas have been included in Signal No. 1 such as Southern Leyte, southern portion of Leyte, Southern Cebu, Siquijor and Bohol.
But PAGASA may include Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay in the lowest TWCS along with the southern part of Negros Island as it maintains speed and direction towards Eastern Mindanao.
At 10 a.m. yesterday, the center of Vinta was estimated at 340 km east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, with maximum winds of up to 65 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph.
It said scattered to widespread moderate to heavy rains is expected over Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, Davao Region and Northern Mindanao within 24 hours.
Residents are advised to take precautions against possible flooding and landslides, coordinate with their respective local disaster risk reduction and management offices.
Sea travel is risky over the seaboards of areas placed under the storm signals, it said.
No sailing The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has canceled sea travel in Mindanao areas affected by the storm, its spokesman, Captain Armand Balilo, said.
He said all ships in Mindanao, specifically those in Surigao and Dinagat Island, were advised to take shelter and secure their ships due to bad weather.
Under the existing guidelines of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the mother agency of PCG, all maritime vessels are not allowed to sail and barred from leavings port terminals when a public storm warning signals are raised.
Relief prepositioned The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Butuan City has prepared 23,408 family food packs (FFPs) for possible victims when Vinta hits the region.
A total of 9,201 FFPs amounting to 1 2,625,694.08 are also prepositioned to geographically hard to reach areas of Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and the Province of Dinagat Islands (PDI).
“A total of 14,207 FFPs amounting to 1 4,031,946.6 are currently stored at DPWH Warehouse, Barangay Tiniwisan, Butuan City,” DSWD 13 Regional Director Mita Chuchi G. Lim told The Manila Bulletin on Thursday.
She also said a food hub is also installed at the military camp of 30th Infantry Battalion (30th IB) in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Placer town, Surigao del Norte using the Mobile Storage Unit (MSU) with 6,000 FFPs ready for any augmentation.
Meanwhile, Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente C. Lagnada already alerted all rescue units and responders and social welfare workers on “standby mood” for rapid deployment while also alerted all the residents in the 21 flood-prone barangays and 17 landslide-prone barangays for possible preemptive evacuation to safer areas and designated evacuation centers in the city.
All local government unit executives in this region have alerted anew all their disaster teams down to municipal and barangay level to be on “standby alert”.
“Yes, we have already alerted all our disaster teams to adopt precautionary measures and continue our goal of ‘zero Casualty’ and minimize possible damage,” said Surigao del Norte Gov. Sol F. Matugas, in a phone interview.
Operation L!STO
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged the local government units (LGUs) to take appropriate actions as the storm moves in.
“The public is advised to regularly check PAGASA advisories, alerts and bulletins. Families and individuals are strongly urged to plan their holidays in line with the official weather forecasts,” said DILG Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Catalino S. Cuy.
Cuy directed LGUs to monitor all PAGASA weather advisories and typhoon bulletins at https://www1.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/ as well as the Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) via http://noah. up.edu.ph/#/.
Cuy said the LGUs were also told to establish critical preparedness actions based on the Operation L!STO protocols and prioritize prepositioning of supplies and equipment for response.
Operation L!STO is a national advocacy program on disaster preparedness which guides LGUs and DILG personnel on actions they need to undertake before, during and after a tropical cyclone.
The LISTO Teams are guided by three LGU Disaster Preparedness Manuals namely: (a) Checklist of Early Preparations for Mayors, (b) Checklist of Critical Preparations for Mayors, and (c) Checklist for Municipal Local Government Operations Officers (MLGOOs), Chief of Police (COPs), and Fire Marshalls (FMs). (With reports from Mike U. Crismundo and Chito Chavez)