In anticipation of the landfall of Typhoon Chedeng on Sunday morning, the local government units (LGUs) of the provinces of Aurora, Isabela,  Cagayan, and Quirino will enforce pre-emptive evacuation starting this afternoon.

During the press briefing at the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council  (NDRRMC) at Camp Aguinaldo, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Secretary Vilma Cabrera said that these provinces will be directly affected by ‘Chedeng’, hence, local authorities have advised the residents in coastal and mountainous areas to evacuate.

Asec. Cabrera urged residents along the typhoon path to heed the call for evacuation of local authorities.

Members of the Search and Rescue Cluster under the Response Pillar of the NDRRMC are ready to assist in the pre-emptive evacuation.

In Baler, Aurora around 10,000 people, including foreign and domestic tourists were asked to end their vacation and leave the area.

The national government‘s Response Pillar, namely: Camp Coordination and Camp Management; Food and Non-Food; Search, Rescue & Retrieval; Law & Order; Emergency Telecommunications; Logistics; Health; International Humanitarian Relations; and, Management of the Dead and Missing, have all been activated.

“This is to ensure that all the government agencies under the Response Pillar are ready for typhoon Chedeng,” Asec Cabrera emphasized.

Meanwhile, the repacking of relief goods is ongoing at the DSWD-National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City. The Department’s employees and personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) were mobilized as volunteers.

Asec. Cabrera also said that the government has enough relief supplies and that there is no need for international help at this time.

The NDRRMC comprising of various government agencies continues to step up its preparations, urging the public, especially residents in low lying and mountainous areas of the provinces with Public Storm Warning (PSW) signal numbers 1 and 2 to be alert against possible flashflood and landslide.

“Let us work together to achieve our goal of zero casualty,” Undersecretary Alexander Pama, head of NDRRMC, said. ###