Traumatized Eastern Samar residents flee for safety as ‘Ruby’ nears

The Secretary of the Interior and Local Government is in Borongan, Eastern Samar to help ensure that LGUs are prepared when #RubyPH makes landfall. Secretary Roxas also emphasized the President’s instructions to evacuate residents in coastal areas. (Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines’ Facebook page)

TACLOBAN CITY — Hernani town in Eastern Samar turned out to be a ghost town as families fled to higher grounds as early as Wednesday, the town police chief said.

Sr. Insp. Dexter Astacaan said that at least 250 families from eight coastal villages took shelter in higher grounds after they were traumatized by storm surges whipped by super typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) last year.

“Most people voluntarily evacuated since Wednesday morning for fear of fighting for their life again just like what happened last year,” Astacaan said in a mobile phone interview.

These families are from villages in the town center, Batang, Carmen, Garawon, and Nagaja.

The local government has identified the upland villages of Canciledes, Padang, and San Isidro as safe ground for evacuation.

Super typhoon Yolanda wiped out the entire town center of Hernani and killed 72 of its residents when it smashed central Philippine last year.

Hernani is 60 kilometers south from the provincial capital of Borongan City, where typhoon Ruby is expected to make a landfall.