1,625 villages ‘critical areas’

A TOTAL of 1,625 ( villages) in different provinces have been considered as “critical areas” for landslides and flash floods as Typhoon make its landfall, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council ( NDRRMC) reported on Thursday.

Romina Marasigan, NDRRMC spokesman, citing a report by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( DENRMGB), said they might initiate forced and preemptive evacuations with consent from local government units ( LGUS) in the provinces of Cagayan Valley, Mimaropa, Calabarzon, Bicol, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Western Visayas, which the NDRRMC described as places with “very high susceptibility” to flooding and landslides.

“Forced and preemptive evacuations will be done in these areas but will be based on the LGUs’ decision. These are all prone to landslides and flooding because these are saturated areas due to Urduja rains,” Mara- sigan said in a news conference.

She added that the NDRRMC remains on “red alert,” which means all agencies under the council will be reporting on updates on casualties and damages.

Maj. Ezra Balagtey, Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman, said they have directed different local DRRMCs to be on alert while conducting disaster response operations.

“The directive also calls for the preparation of floating, flying and heavy equipment from all Armed Forces units in Eastern Mindanao for possible deployment in the conduct of disaster response,” Balagtey said in a statement.

The NDRRMC reported that Typhoon Urduja left P1 billion in damages-- P569 million to infrastructure and P497 million to agriculture in the Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, Davao and Central Visayas.