Signal no. 4 up in 7 areas in VisMin as ‘Tino’ nears land
State weather forecasters on Monday raised Storm Signal No. 4 over at least seven areas in the Visayas and Mindanao as Typhoon “Tino” (international name: Kalmaegi) slightly intensified as it churned closer to land.
Thousands of residents were in shelters, thousands of passengers were also stranded in ports and airports, dozens of domestic flights were canceled, and classes and government work were suspended in many areas in the two major islands ahead of the typhoon’s landfall.
Tino was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusting up to 160 kph as it swirled westward at 25 kph over the Philippine Sea. It was last spotted 170 km east southeast of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and forecast to pass close to Homonhon Island or Dinagat Islands on Monday night or Tuesday morning.
“It is then expected to make landfall over Leyte or Southern Leyte by early [Tuesday], before crossing the Visayas and northern Palawan throughout [Tuesday] and Wednesday early morning,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in a bulletin.
The typhoon was forecast to dump more than 200 millimeters of rain in Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, Leyte and Dinagat Islands, and 100 to 200 mm of rain in Cebu, Surigao del Norte, Northern Samar, Sorsogon, Biliran, Samar, Bohol, Camiguin and Agusan del Norte, on Monday, according to the weather bureau.
Memories of ‘Yolanda’
In the Visayas, Storm Signal No. 4 was up over the extreme southeastern portion of Eastern Samar (Guiuan); the southern portion of Leyte (Mahaplag, Abuyog, City of Baybay, Inopacan, Hilongos, Hindang, Bato, Matalom, Javier); Southern Leyte; Camotes Islands, and the northeastern portion of Bohol (President Carlos P. Garcia, Getafe, Trinidad, Ubay, Bien Unido, Talibon).
The same storm signal was raised over Dinagat, Siargao and Bucas Grande islands in Mindanao.
Twelve years after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) devastated Tacloban City and left more than 2,200 people dead, residents like Ma. Corazon Liberty Ladrera took no chances as Tino approached land.
Ladrera, her husband, and six children evacuated early to the Tacloban Convention Center even before the local government issued any official order. “We didn’t wait. We don’t want what happened during Yolanda to happen again,” she said.
By Monday noon, 11 families or 62 individuals were at the astrodome, with more expected to follow after Mayor Alfred Romualdez ordered forced evacuations in coastal and landslide-prone areas.
“Let’s not think about whether this storm will be as strong as Yolanda. A storm is still a storm. Let us all be prepared,” Romualdez said in a video message, adding that work and classes were suspended and a liquor ban enforced.
‘No-sail’ policy
More than 1,600 families (6,284 people) across Eastern Visayas were in evacuation centers as of Monday afternoon, according to the police.
In Eastern Samar, 109 families from 15 coastal barangays in Guiuan were evacuated on Sunday, as Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan warned of possible storm surges and flooding.
In Cebu province, officials in Bogo City relocated earthquake survivors still living in tent communities to safer grounds.
In Antique province, Gov. Paolo Everardo Javier directed local disaster response councils to relocate people, livestock and belongings away from flood and landslide-prone zones, and so did the governors of Masbate, Albay, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur and Catanduanes.
In Misamis Oriental province, Gingoog City Mayor Erick Cañosa ordered the immediate preemptive evacuation of all residents living near riverbanks and in landslide-prone areas.
As the transport department ordered a “no-sail” policy, at least 2,480 passengers, mostly returning home after the country’s observance of the All Saints’ Day weekend, were stranded in 46 ports, according to the Philippine Coast Guard. Meanwhile, 70 roll-on, roll-off vessels were stopped from sailing.
Hundreds of airline passengers were also affected by the cancellation of flights.
Storm Signal No. 3 was hoisted over the southern portion of Eastern Samar; southern portion of Samar; central portion of Leyte; northern and central portions of Cebu; central and eastern portions of Bohol; northern portion of Negros Oriental; Guimaras and the eastern portion of Iloilo, all in Visayas, as well as the rest of Surigao del Norte in Mindanao.
Signal Nos. 2 and 1 were up over other parts of Visayas, Mindanao and the main island of Luzon. —REPORTS FROM ZACARIAN SARAO, JOEY GABIETA, HAZEL VILLA, NESTLE SEMILLA-DAKAY, MA. APRIL MIER-MANJARES, GILLIAN VILLANUEVA, KEITH CLORES, JASON SIGALES, CHRIS PANGANIBAN, MEL VELEZ, CONG CORRALES AND RICHEL UMEL
