A ferocious and dangerously erratic typhoon “Ruby” weakened as it blew closer to the country yesterday, as differing forecasts about its path – one predicting it will graze Metro Manila – prompted a much wider swath of the country to prepare for a weekend of possibly destructive winds and rain.
“Ruby” (international name “Hagupit”) was expected to blast in from the Pacific Ocean and slam into Eastern Samar – one of the areas devastated by last year’s super-typhoon “Yolanda” that killed at least 6,340 people – late Saturday.
PREPARE TO BE WHIPPED – Its international name (‘Hagupit’) appearing to be more and more appropriate as it gathers strength on its way to the country, super-typhoon ‘Ruby’ is seen barreling its way to the Philippines as pointed out by Science Sec. Mario Montejo at the PAGASA headquarters yesterday. Frantic consumers in Tacloban City, Leyte (right), many of them still reeling from the effects of super-typhoon ‘Yolanda’ just 13 months ago, queue up to buy groceries to stock up for what could be another catastrophic weekend ahead. (Michael Varcas/AP)
“I’m scared,” said “Yolanda” survivor Jojo Moro. “I’m praying to God not to let another disaster strike us again. We haven’t recovered from the first.”
The 42-year-old businessman, who lost his wife, daughter, and mother last year in Tacloban City, said he stocked up on sardines, instant noodles, eggs, and water.
Another “Yolanda” survivor Emily Sagales said many of her still-edgy neighbors in Tacloban packed their clothes and fled to a sports stadium and safer homes of relatives. Long lines formed at grocery stores and gas stations as residents stocked up on basic goods, she said.
“‘We’ve learned our lesson from ‘Yolanda’,” Rita Villadolid, 39, told AFP as she sat inside the stadium with her family.
“Everyone here is gripped with fear.”
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo said that “Ruby” weakened due to the intrusion of cold air mass from the northeast monsoon. He said the typhoon is expected to further weaken in the succeeding hours as it continues to move toward Eastern Visayas.
“Habang tumatagal, lalong humihina (As time passes by, the typhoon weakens). It will weaken until and after landfall, so ‘yun ang positive news. Hindi na siya magiging super-typhoon (It will no longer become a super-typhoon),” Montejo said.
“Ruby” was expected to slam into Eastern Samar late Saturday, then cut across central islands along a route north. But its path thereafter is debatable.
The computer models of the two agencies tracking the typhoon closely – the US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) – showed different tracks for the typhoon because of a low pressure area interacting with it.
The US agency said “Ruby” may veer just south of Metro Manila, while PAGASA projected a more southern track. But both tracks appeared to be coming closer together as the landfall time approaches.
Also, both agencies said the typhoon is slowly losing strength.
PAGASA weather forecaster Chris Perez said “Ruby” now has a maximum sustained winds of 195 kph near the center, from a high of 215 kph, and gustiness of 230 kph as it is expected to move west northwest at 13 kph.
As of 3 p.m. it was estimated at 380 km east of Borongan, Eastern Samar.
47 HIGH RISK AREAS
PAGASA said that around 47 provinces have been placed under the list of “Potential High Risk Areas,” which include Aklan, Albay, Antique, Aurora, Bataan, Batangas, Benguet, Biliran, Bohol, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Capiz, Catanduanes, Cavite, Cebu, Dinagat Island, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, La Union, Laguna, Leyte, Marinduque, Masbate, and Metro Manila.
Other potential high risk areas are: Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Quirino, Rizal, Romblon, Samar, Sorsogon, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Tarlac, and Zambales.
STORM SIGNALS
Public storm warning signal No. 2 (winds of 61-100 kph expected in at least 24 hours) has been raised over the following areas: Sorsogon, Ticao Island ,and Masbate in Luzon; Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar, Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Northern Cebu, including Cebu City, Bantayan Island, and Camotes Island in the Visayas. These areas will experience occasional rains and gusty winds.
Public storm warning signal No. 1 (winds of 30-60 kph expected in at least 36 hours) has been raised over the following areas: Catanduanes, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Burias Island, and Romblon in Luzon; Capiz, Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, rest of Cebu, and Siquijor, and Bohol in the Visayas; Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Island, Siargao Island, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, and Camiguin Island in the Mindanao. Residents in low-lying and mountainous places in these areas should be alerted against possible flash floods and landslides.
MASS EVACUATION
Still smarting from the devastation left by “Yolanda,” particularly in the Eastern Visayas a year ago, thousands of people have already sought shelter in churches, schools, and other makeshift evacuation centers yesterday as “Ruby” bore down on the disaster-weary nation.
Ports around the country were also shut, leaving at least 2,500 travelers stranded, and some local governments ordered forced evacuations yesterday as “Ruby” swept toward eastern coasts of the country.
Also stranded were 117 vessels, 168 rolling cargoes, and 16 motor bancas after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) stopped sea travel ahead of the storm.
METRO MANILA THREATENED
While the local weather bureau and the Japan Meteorological Agency predicted “Ruby” making a direct hit on the Visayas, the forecasting website Tropical Storm Risk and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the US navy showed the storm veering northward after making landfall and possibly threatening Metro Manila, which has population of more than 12 million people..
The Japan Meteorological Agency classified “Ruby” as a “violent” storm while the US navy called it a super typhoon last Thursday.
But PAGASA refused to classify “Ruby” as a super typhoon because the term will only be made official next year.
Yesterday, the US agency downgraded “Ruby” from the maximum super typhoon category to typhoon status, reporting its wind strength had weakened from Yolanda-like 300 kilometers an hour to about 230 kilometers an hour.
Still, this would make “Ruby” the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year.
“We have alerted the people of Manila and we’re ready,” Mayor Joseph Estrada said, while acknowledging “these typhoons change direction all the time.”
If the first forecast holds, Ruby’s path will send it barreling inland into the Visayas along the same route where “Yolanda” leveled villages and left more than 7,300 dead and missing in November last year.
Still, “Ruby’s” erratic behavior prompted the government to call an emergency meeting of mayors of Metro Manila to warn them to prepare.
The Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC) warned Metro Manila residents of possible storm surge in Manila Bay and landslides in 13 barangays as the outer bands of “Ruby” may bring heavy rains in the metropolis next week.
INTENSE RAINS SEEN
Bonifacio Pauenas of PAGASA told MMDRRMC officials that “Ruby” is expected to bring heavy to intense rainfalls and strong winds on December 8-9, based on projective track.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said cities in the southern area of Metro Manila, including Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Pasay, and Parañaque have been considered as “critical” areas because they are close to the Manila Bay.
“Metro Manila is within Ruby’s 400-kilometer diameter expanse when it hits Mindoro on Monday. Strong winds may generate waves in the Manila Bay,” Pauenas said.
The MMDA will place sandbags at the seawall along Roxas Boulevard as protection for possible storm surge.
“The local government will also declare a ‘no man’s land’ Roxas Boulevard up to Parola and Baseco Compound. Repairs or construction being undertaken at the Manila Bay were stopped,” said Tolentino.
As part of the agency’s preparations, Tolentino said they will implement emergency response measures under the Oplan Metro Yakal starting today.
An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) also cautioned residents on possible landslides when heavy rains pour.
The DENR identified 13 barangays susceptible to landslides: Barangay Tunasan in Muntinlupa; Barangay Fortune in Marikina; several barangays in Quezon City.
It also reported that there are 820 flood-prone barangays in Metro Manila.
42 AREAS FACE STORM SURGE
Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) said at least 42 areas in Bicol and the Visayas may be hit by storm surge.
PAGASA said the storm surge in these areas may measure four to five meters high where heavy to intense rainfall is expected.
Given the country’s experience with “Yolanda,” which caught people unprepared to deal with its ferocity, authorities seemed better positioned this time to respond to the impending crisis.
Officials in the Visayas, which were hammered by “Yolanda,” evacuated thousands of people to safer areas, including Tacloban city, where the new typhoon has triggered panic-buying in grocery stores and gas stations and brought back nightmares of last year’s deadly onslaught.
Elsewhere in Tacloban, hundreds of people sheltered in churches and schools, some of the sturdiest buildings in the city while wealthier residents checked into hotels.
“Yolanda” demolished about one million houses and displaced some four million people in the Visayas. Hundreds of residents still living in tents in Tacloban have been prioritized in an ongoing evacuation.
Hotels in Tacloban, a city of more than 200,000 people still struggling to recover from last year’s massive damage, ran out of rooms as wealthier families booked ahead for the weekend.
The government put the military on full alert, workers opened evacuation centers and transported food packs, medicines and body bags to far-flung villages, which could be cut off by heavy rains.
GHOST OF ‘YOLANDA’
In Borongan, Eastern Samar, churches and government establishments have opened their doors to hundreds of families as fears of suffering the fate of “Yolanda” victims gripped local residents.
The anxiety is understandable since Borongan is a coastal town fronting the Philippine Sea, with local residents saying that they might also suffer storm surge when “Ruby” unleash its fury today.
“The images of the Yolanda devastation are still fresh on our mind. Most of us here are afraid that what happened in Tacloban City may also happen to us,” 18-year old Althea Medea told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.
Medea said of the local residents have already sought refuge from the nearby seminary aside from various schools where they taken into during the Yolanda onslaught last year.
Hundreds of families were also allowed to stay at the municipal hall of Borongan and the Provincial Capitol, setting mats and bed sheets on the hallways and some offices, according to Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas.
“The Archdiocese of Borongan has opened its doors to the displaced. At least 200 of them now fill the hallways of his residence,” said Roxas.
Meanwhile in Barangay Matnag, Taft, Eastern Samar, vehicles of the Bureau of Fire Protection were seen evacuating women and children from their homes.
Some residents were also seen packing their things to join a number of people heading towards the nearest evacuation centers.
PNOY SATISFIED
In Manila, disaster response authorities have been given a grade of 50 out of 100 by President Aquino pending the resolution of the “crisis” brought by “Ruby.”
The President was generally satisfied with the disaster preparations presented by concerned officials during the recently National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) meeting but expected them to do better after the Yolanda incident last year.
“If I say they’re at 80 or 90 they might relax. So can I just say that they are at 50 pending resolution of this crisis?” Aquino said during the “Bulong Pulungan” event held in Pasay City. (With reports from AFP, Reuters, Aaron B. Recuenco, Elena L. Aben, Genalyn D. Kabiling, and PNA)