‘Rolly’ may affect close to 32M persons: NDRRMC

FILE: A street vendor sells broomsticks along Quirino Highway in Novaliches, Quezon City on Sunday (Nov. 1, 2020) despite the bad weather brought by Typhoon Rolly. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Sunday said from 19.8 million to 31.9 million people are expected to be exposed to Typhoon Rolly.

“Based on the current projected track of Super Typhoon ‘Rolly’, an estimated population of 19.8 million are exposed to the typhoon within the 60-kilometer diameter and 31.9 million within 120-kilometer diameter,” NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said in a Sunday briefing.

Of the exposed population, he said 1.3 million people in the 60 km diameter belong to the poor population while 2.

4 million residents in the 120 km diameter are also considered poor.

The affected and exposed regions are Regions 1, 2, 3, 4A, 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the National Capital Region.

“And as of now the total number of families and individuals preemptively evacuated number 96,543 families, composed of 346,993 individuals,” he added.

The number of preemptively evacuated families can be broken down as follows: NCR with 2,420; CAR with 88; Region 3 with 1,958; Calabarzon with 3,266; Region 5 with 87,908 and Region 8 with 903.

Jalad also apologized for the discrepancy in the figures he gave during the Saturday briefing where he said that an estimated 1 million people have been evacuated in Bicol due to the typhoon.

“Ako ay humihingi ng paumanhin sa discrepancy ng report natin kagabi, hindi naman sinasadya ‘yun (I apologized for the discrepancy of our report last night), it’s not intentional on my part,” he said.

In the same briefing, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said that all contingencies are covered as advance preparations were completed with the expected onslaught of “Rolly” in Luzon, especially in the Southern Luzon.

He added that all the affected provincial governments, cities, municipalities, and the barangays have activated their respective emergency operations centers to serve the purpose.

Año said as early as August 28 that the DILG had already issued an order through its regional offices compelling LGUs to make the necessary preparation for the typhoon season.

He said forced evacuation and the no sailing policy will be strictly enforced to residents living near the bodies of water and other high-risk areas.

From the LGUs, Año said the barangays were also tasked to conduct routine patrols and monitoring in their respective areas to determine what assistance they can provide for their affected constituents.

He added that the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection are prepared to conduct massive evacuation as they have search and rescue teams to help people who might be endangered. (with reports from Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)