LEGAZPI CITY, Albay (PIA) – Due to possible effects of Tropical Depression "Paeng," the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) in Bicol has placed the region on "red alert" status.
In a memorandum issued at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, RDRRMC Chairperson Claudio Yucot said that raising the alert status from blue to red was due to the possible effects of the weather disturbance on the region.
With the status, all RDRRMC response assets and cluster must be ready for deployment to threatened localities. Evacuation for high-risk barangays shall be led by local DRRMCs.
Yucot, also chief of Office of Civil Defense for Bicol (OCD-5), said response clusters led by different national government agencies were expected to regularly report to the RDRRMC Emergency Operations Center status and updates at 7 a.m and 4 p.m daily to provide time for collation of all data.
In a bulletin released at 5 a.m. today, Thursday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said ‘Paeng’ had maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the center, gustiness of up to 70 kph and was heading west northwestward at 10 kph.
It was tracked 660 km East of Borongan City, Eastern Samar. Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 has been hoisted over the northern portion of Eastern Samar and the eastern portion of Northern Samar.
Paeng was forecast to cause heavy to torrential rains over Bicol region beginning Friday through Saturday. (PIA5)
