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“The worst is yet to come”, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said as Tropical Storm ”Kristine” literally submerged areas in the Bicol Region while it continued to move west towards the land mass of Northern Luzon.
“The point right now is that the storm is still off of our coast. It’s not yet in, hasn’t made landfall yet so the worst is yet to come, I’m afraid,” Marcos said following reports of the effect of ”Kristine” in Bicol which is not within the center of the eye that was last spotted at 160 km east of Casiguran, Aurora at around 2 pm of Wednesday.
Former Vice President Leni Robredo led a call for boats on Tuesday night as floodwaters poured into Naga City, where residents were caught off guard by heavy rains.
Marcos admitted that he feels “a little helpless” and directed all concerned agencies to ensure their preparedness to respond once the flooding and roads in the affected areas are cleared for the entry of assistance from the national government.
“Let’s just all prepare so that the minute that we get a signal that it is ok to go in we’ll all be able to go in, we cannot do anything… I’m feeling a little helpless here because we cannot… All we can do is sit tight, wait, hope, pray that there’s not too much damage, that there are no casualties,” he said.
“And then go in as soon and as quickly as possible with as much as we can to alleviate the effects, especially first to the population. And then afterwards, we will take care of all the other infrastructure: the power, the roads,” he added.
Marcos also ordered the close monitoring of dams in the areas affected by ”Kristine” to prevent untoward incidents that may be caused by sudden release of waters from the reservoirs.
“Let’s watch again, those dams… let’s anticipate, let’s be proactive about it. Let’s not wait for the levels to reach the maximum. If we can, let’s release little by little to prevent overflow. So, let’s think in those terms that we’ll plan ahead.”
TV footage showed a flooded Naga City and in other areas of Albay and Camarines Norte, prompting residents to tell interviewers they have not experienced this in decades.
In a radio interview, Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office consultant Cedric Daep said the recorded rainfall of 540 millimeters in the past 24 hours exceeded the highest recorded of 484.6 millimeters in 1969.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said 300 out of the 600 barangays in Naga City were submerged due to floods.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said that the military is trying to get additional rubber boats from Visayas and Mindanao to help in the response and rescue efforts in Luzon.
Teodoro said the government is also reaching out to other neighboring countries for possible international assistance.
“With Singapore, I already talked to Ambassador (Constance) See and then, we are reaching out to Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia as the closest neighbors, sir, in addition to the partner nations,” he said.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. also assures that the military airlift capabilities were on alert for possible deployment in the affected areas.
He said the United States military is ready to send their air assets to help the disaster operation in the Philippines.
“In terms of the airlift capability, we already have alerted most of our aircraft. But yesterday we also coordinated with our US counterparts and they are ready to send in their aircraft using our EDCA sites,” said Brawner.
“And then if other countries are coming in, we will also establish our multinational coordinating centers,” he added
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said his agency will deploy three international medical teams in the affected regions.
“We actually just got recently verified for three international medical teams – level one. So, this is a 30-man team complete with WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities for outpatient care. I plan to deploy it, one in Bicol, the other one in Northern and Central Luzon,” he said.
As of 12 noon, the Philippine Coast Guard monitored 103 ports affected with 7,000 passengers / truck drivers /cargo helpers; 1,872 rolling cargoes; 111 vessels and 22 motorbancas were stranded, while 261 vessels and 142 motorbancas were taking shelter due to rough sea condition brought by Kristine.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) recorded 12,698 people were displaced out of the 382,302 individuals or 77,910 families affected by the weather disturbance. Robina Asido/DMS