Navy steps up relief operations

By iris Gonzales

The Philippine Star, Monday, 25 October 2010

Meanwhile, the military has created a task force that will conduct relief and rehabilitation efforts in Isabela.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said the task force, to be led by Commodore Edgar Abogado, consists of engineering and rescue teams backed by various military assets.

He said the creation of the task force was in response to the appeal of local officials whose areas were practically flattened due to the typhoon.

“This is our effort to help our needy fellow Filipinos in that devastated area. The Philippine Navy will serve as link between our people and those who want to help them,” Arevalo said in a statement.

The task force will proceed to Isabela via logistics support vessel BRP Dagupan City, which left the Navy headquarters in Manila yesterday noon.

Included in the contingent are four naval combat engineering teams from the Naval Construction Brigade.

Arevalo said a 60-man rescue team under the Naval Forces Northern Luzon has been transformed to recovery, relief and rehabilitation teams.

Other Navy assets to be used for the relief operations are the BRP Alfredo Peckson, an aircraft, and three M35 trucks.

“A communications van that will serve as hub will also be included to link the different military units in the area since the communications was down,” Arevalo said.

He said the task force is also coordinating with other state agencies and private institutions to assist the typhoon victims.

“We are calling all benevolent institutions to help us in this humanitarian operation. Interested parties may send their relief goods through the Philippine Navy for our brothers in Isabela,” Arevalo said.

Navy goes from rescue to relief operations

By Elena L Aben

The Philippine Navy has shifted from disaster response, rescue and recovery operations to road clearing and relief operations as typhoon "Juan" continued to move forward South China Sea.

Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy Public Affairs Office (NPAO) director, said 250 regular and 200 reservists of the Navy's Disaster Response and Rescue Teams (DDRT) were deployed in the affected areas of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte; Vigan, Narvacan and Candon City in Ilocos Sur; and San Fernando, Bonuan, and Naguilan in La Union to distribute relief goods to affected families.

A medical team was deployed to provide assistance to families in the evacuation centers.

Five Navy vessels and an aircraft were also placed on standby.

As soon as the sky clears, Arevalo said navy aircraft will be dispatched to conduct reconnaisance to assess the extent of typhoon "Juan's" damage.

All systems ready for typhoon’s wrath

By William B Depasupil

The Manila Times, Monday, 18 October 2010

WITH lessons learned from past devastating typhoons, the national government, more than ever, is now well prepared and well-equipped for any eventuality once “Super Typhoon Juan” makes its expected landfall Monday in the northern Luzon area.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), headed by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, said Sunday that everything is now in place in Regions I and II and the Cordillera Autonomous Region, the areas that were expected to be hit directly by the incoming typhoon.

“The President’s [Benigno Aquino 3rd] instruction is zero casualty,” said Benito Ramos, the NDRRMC director and concurrent chairman of the Office of the Civil Defense.

“During the last three days, my regional directors in Regions I, II and the Cordillera were in close coordination with the local government units of Ilocos Region, Cordillera and Cagayan Valley.”

“They are all prepared. All systems go,” he added.

According to Ramos, pre-emptive evacuations have already been voluntarily made by residents in low-lying areas and in landslide prone places as early as Saturday, or two days before the expected landfall of Juan.

“They have learned their lessons from typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. They are now listening and don’t wait anymore for the effort of the national government to evacuate them,” he said.

Ramos added that the designated evacuation centers have been identified in every towns and cities in close coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, volunteer organizations and with well-equipped disaster response teams.

The Social Welfare department, Ramos disclosed, had already distributed 3,928 family food packs worth P2.28 million in Regions I, II and the CAR, and P46.10-million worth of non-food items. The agency also has a standby fund of P2.734 million.

Ramos said further that the entire force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippines National Police have also been alerted to assist the local governments, down to the barangay level.

He added that the Department of Education has already declared the suspension of classes in all the affected regions following reports from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), that the typhoon has not deviated from its projected direction toward Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Region and Apayao.

Navy on standby

In a related development, the Philippine Navy spokesman, Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, said Sunday that the Navy’s Disaster Response Task Groups were already on standby alert at the Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) in La Union, and Naval Forces Southern Luzon (NFSL) in Legazpi City, Albay, and as well as the Fleet-Marine Ready Force (FMRF) task units in the Manila-Cavite areas.

The Philippine Navy’s DRTGs are on alert in preparation for the possible devastating effects of Juan.

According to Arevalo, all Navy ships and patrol boats were also on standby and ready to conduct rescue operations if the need arises.

“The Philippine Navy is continuously monitoring events in relation to Typhoon Juan,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ramos said that Gazmin has cancelled his trip to Cagayan province on Sunday because of bad weather caused by Juan.

“Hindi matuloy, nag-back out yung piloto ng Philippine Air Force dahil kumapal ang ulap dito sa may Caraballo mountain [The trip did not push through.

The pilot of the Philippine Air Force backed out because of the thick clouds at the mountain of Caraballo],” he added.

Gazmin was supposed to oversee the preparations being made in Cagayan to ensure that nothing has been left out.

Meanwhile, thousands of families in Northern Luzon were evacuated with Juan fast approaching Isabela and Cagayan.

“Residents along the river banks and coastal areas have left their homes. We opened four evacuation centers,” said Edna Junio, provincial social welfare development officer of Cagayan province.

Isabela getting ready

Preparations were also being made in Isabela where some 100,000 hectares of palay (unhusked rice) still to be harvested may be lost to the floods that Juan will bring.

As of Sunday afternoon, rains were starting to fall in parts of northern Isabela. The flood prone areas in the province include the entire northern coastal stretch from Santa Ana to Santa Praxedes, which are all along the Cagayan River and the Pacific coast.

In Isabela, full alert had been raised for all towns along the Cagayan and Magat rivers including the capital of Ilagan, while the same was raised in Nueva Vizcaya for towns along the Magat River or for towns along the Cagayan River in Quirino province.

WITH REPORTS FROM FRANCIS C. HIDALGO JR. AND XINHUA

'Juan' Now a Super Typhoon

By ELLALYN B. DE VERA

Manila Bulletin, Monday, 18 October 2010

• Signal No. 4 up in Cagayan, Isabela
• Classes suspended in N. Luzon
• Evacuation begins
• Power grid, rescuers ready

MANILA, Philippines – Northern Luzon where it is expectedTyphoon “Juan” (international name: Megi) intensified into a “super typhoon” as it roared closer to to make landfall this morning, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Sunday.

Storm Signal No. 4 (winds above 185 kilometers per hour) had already been hoisted in Cagayan and Isabela provinces at 4 p.m. Sunday, said PAGASA Weather Forecasting Section Chief Robert Sawi as “Juan” packed maximum sustained winds of up to 225 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 260 kph.

Technically, PAGASA does not have a “super typhoon” category, but Sawi explained that the United States-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center declares a cyclone as a super typhoon when its winds exceed 215 kph near the center.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the eye of the typhoon was located at 390 kilometers (km) east of Aparri, Cagayan and moving westward at 22 kilometers per hour (kph).

“There is a 90 percent chance of landfall over the Cagayan area, then it will cross Apayao, and exit Ilocos Norte,” said PAGASA weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio.

PAGASA projected that the super typhoon would make landfall in Aparri, Cagayan, at 8 a.m. Monday and dump an estimated rainfall of 22 mm/hr.

Sawi said Juan which will be at 100 km east of Aparri or 50 km southeast of Laoag City this afternoon, can possibly exit the country also Monday.

Areas placed Sunday under Signal No. 3 (winds of 101-185 kph is expected in at least 18 hours) were Batanes, Calayan and Babuyan Groups of Islands, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Quirino and Northern Aurora.

Signal No. 2 (winds of 61-100 kph is expected in at least 24 hours) was hoisted over Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, and the rest of Aurora.

Signal No. 1 (winds of 30-60 kph is expected within the next 36 hours) was raised in Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Polillo Island.

Classes have already been suspended in Regions 1, 2 and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

PRE-EMPTIVE EVACUATION BEGINS IN CAGAYAN

As this developed, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or NDRRMC (formerly the National Disaster Coordinating Council) ordered the pre-emptive evacuation of families living in high-risk areas as early as Sunday.

In Tuguegarao City, all families in coastal areas who are expected to be directly affected by the projected landfall the typhoon this morning have begun evacuations.

In a phone interview, Cagayan’s Social Welfare and Development Officer Edna Junio said as of press time that the different rescue groups are busy helping the local residents in going to the designated preemptive evacuation centers in the province.

“These residents are living along the river banks and coastal areas in Buguey, Gonzaga, Sta. Ana, Ballesteros up to Aparri towns in our province,” Junio said.

Meanwhile, Executive Director Benito Ramos of the NDRRMC, said that aside from Cagayan province, many families are also tend to evacuate in the province of Nueva Ecija especially those living near the Casili River, San Mariano River, and Chico River.

RESCUE TEAMS READY

Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy Public Affairs Office (NPAO) director said the Philippine Navy’s disaster response task groups (DRTG) have been on alert since Friday in preparation for Juan, the strongest storm to enter the country this year, so far.

Arevalo said the DRTGs are prepositioned at the Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) in La Union, Naval Forces Southern Luzon (NFSL) in Legaspi City, and the Fleet-Marine Ready Force’s (FMRF) task units in the Manila-Cavite areas.

“In Northern Luzon, three teams are on standby with two teams located at the NFNL Headquarters.

The third team at the Naval detachment Bonoan is manned by naval reservists to augment the Navy’s regular force in the area,” said Arevalo, adding that each team has 10 personnel and equipped with a rubber boat and other life-saving equipment.

Meanwhile, two teams are also on standby at the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) in San Antonio, Zambales to respond to citizens in need.

Arevalo said a team of Navy SEALS are also on standby. Augmenting these teams are naval ROTC cadets.

In Manila, two teams from the Naval Reserve Command (NRC) in Intramuros are on standby with 10 personnel each team.

NATIONAL GRID BRACES FOR STORM

Power transmission service provider and system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Sunday it was all set to activate its command centers Sunday in preparation for the expected landfall of the typhoon Monday.

The NGCP’s system operations and operations and maintenance personnel in Luzon and Visayas have been enjoined to make all necessary precautions to minimize the impact of the typhoon.

To coordinate contingency measures in all NGCP facilities in the path of the typhoon, command centers at the head office, regional and district levels will be activated 24 hours before landfall.

Monitoring of grid conditions, assessment of damages, supervision over rehabilitation and restoration works, and documentation will all be done at the command centers.

All telecommunication facilities, equipment, tools and vehicles have been secured and groups of linemen have been organized and prepared to be deployed at any emergency.

M.M.D.A., MAYORS ACTIVATE DISASTER RESPONSE UNITS

Still on alert for the possible damage to be caused by the super typhoon, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and lead government agencies in disaster response situations have activated personnel and equipment ready to respond in any emergency.

In an emergency meeting with government agencies held Sunday, MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino assured the public of their readiness when typhoon Juan hit Metro Manila.

“We have synchronized all measures that we have undertaken should typhoon Juan bring a large amount of rain in the metropolis. Key government agencies expressed readiness to assist the public in worst scenarios prepared to cope with the possible destruction of typhoon Juan in the unlikely event it will hit Metro Manila,” said Tolentino.

On Sunday, the MMDA chief presided inter-agency meeting attended by Metro Manila Police Director Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome and representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines-National Capital Region Command (AFP-NCR-Com), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) where they presented their reports. (With reports from Elena L. Aben, Freddie G. Lazaro, and Anna Liza T. Villas)