MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Depression Auring is expected to hit land over the Surigao provinces between Sunday evening and early Monday morning, January 8 or 9, state weather bureau PAGASA said on Saturday, January 7.
The hours between a typhoon’s entry into the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and its landfall are a critical time for disaster risk reduction and management.
Below are some critical preparedness actions based on the Oplan Listo (Operation Plan Alert) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that local governments should be taking hours before the typhoon hits land.
The 1991 Local Government Code and the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 mandate local government units to be at the frontline of emergency measures during disasters.
The minimum critical activities that LGUs under Charlie or Red alert should be doing in affected areas are:
- Secure power, water supply, and communications
- Start preemptive evacuation
- Announce forced evacuation
- Prepare list of evacuees
- Distribute relief packs and conduct mass feeding
- Stop traffic in landslide-prone areas
Oplan Listo uses a disaster preparedness manual that provides mayors and other local government disaster management agencies a checklist of what should be done before, during, and after typhoons.
The manual includes flowcharts that correspond to 3 phases of critical preparedness actions – Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. It also provides a tropical cyclone information board and reference boxes and minimum actions to guide mayors.
Provinces on red alert
As of Saturday, January 7, the following areas are on Charlie alert, according to the DILG:
- Agusan del Sur
- Agusan del Norte
- Bohol
- Camiguin
- Cebu
- Misamis Oriental
- Negros Oriental
- Negros Occidental
- Palawan
- Siquijor
- Surigao del Sur
- Surigao del Norte
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also on Saturday said there are at least 976,704 families or 4,883,546 people who are "exposed to areas that are highly to very highly susceptible to landslide or flooding" in regions Caraga, X, VIII, VII, NIR, XII, ARMM, XI, and VI.
Of the population that is expected to be affected, over 420,000 families are poor. – Rappler.com
Check if your mayors are taking these minimum preparedness activities that LGUs should be enforcing in areas expected to be affected by Tropical Depression Auring. Tell us how prepared your LGUs are through email (move.ph@rappler.com) or Twitter (@moveph).