DAGUPAN CITY – An estimated 98 families from Pangasinan and La Union left their homes as of Saturday night due to storm surge threats from Super Typhoon Pepito (international name Man-yi).
The Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) continues to verify information on the number of evacuees, but initial reports placed these to around 98 families or 242 individuals.
Governor Ramon Guico III suspended classes at all levels both in public and private schools on Monday as well as government work except for those in frontline services.
Provincial reports said 91 of the families are from nine villages of Alaminos City residing in high-risk areas, four from three villages of Anda town, and three from Bani town.
The provincial government has asked the local government units to conduct preemptive evacuation since Friday as Pepito moves closer to Northern Luzon.
Guico has also ordered the preparations of evacuation centers and relief goods for the evacuees.
In La Union, families from Barangay Mindoro, an island village in Bangar town, were also preemptively evacuated.
The provincial government, however, has yet to account for the number of evacuees as of this writing.
Also, San Juan Beach in La Union has temporarily been closed to the public since Sunday noon until further notice as a safety measure.
Municipal Ordinance No. 01 – 2018 provides penalty to the violators of this measure – – PHP 1, 000 per individual and PHP 2, 500 per establishment.
Parts of the Ilocos Region has been included in areas placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2-4, thus the red alert status was declared to ensure that all rescue personnel and assets are on standby and ready for deployment for emergencies.(PNA)