The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Thursday said it is closely monitoring tropical storm ‘Fung-wong,’ which will be known as ‘Uwan’ once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility soon, as it is expected to greatly affect Luzon.
In an interview, OCD deputy administrator for administration Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said they are paying attention to this incoming weather disturbance, considering the size of its rain band. Forecasters earlier warned it has a potential to develop as a super typhoon.
“It is heading towards Aurora, Tuguegarao, and Cagayan areas, but what we’re monitoring is its rain band, because if it’s a large (weather) system, it will bring rain to the entire Luzon,” Alejandro said.
The Civil Defense official said that the rain band needs to be monitored constantly due the possibility and danger of floods in Southern and Northern Luzon.
“Based on our analysis, we are already issuing warnings, preparatory instructions to all LGUs (local government units) along its path, especially the northern, central (Luzon) up to Bicol,” Alejandro noted.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. earlier ordered all concerned government agencies to strike a balance between sending personnel to Typhoon Tino-affected areas and to provinces expected to be hit by ‘Uwan,’ particularly in northern Luzon.
“We will do as much as we can to anticipate (because) if we anticipate well, and we prepare well, we will be able to do so much to somehow minimize the effect (of the typhoon),” President Marcos said after presiding over a situation briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
The OCD on Thursday reported that Typhoon Tino has affected a total of 1,951,546 people or 544,081 families in eight regions across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao namely Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Negros Island Region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga.
