Five barangays in Iloilo City tagged as high risk to Odette

Five barangays in Iloilo City have been classified as high risk due to Typhoon Odette, according to the Iloilo City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO).

The five high-risk barangays are Calaparan, Sto. Niño Norte, Sto. Niño Sur in Arevalo district and Calumpang and San Juan in Molo district.

The CDRRMO has conducted ocular visits to the coastal barangays in the metro while the weather situation of the 180 barangays is continuously being monitored.

Meanwhile, the city government has also raised its blue alert status and activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) due to Odette.

In an order issued by Mayor Jerry Treñas on Tuesday, Dec 14, 2021, all response cluster leads, unit leads, and vice-chairpersons of CDRRMC have been advised to be on standby and be ready for deployment.

“Emergency Preparedness and Response Charlie Protocol is hereby raised for Iloilo City while the Iloilo City CDRRMO is hereby placed on ‘blue alert’ and mandated to conduct close monitoring and coordination with concerned officers,” the order said.

Barangay DRRMCs are likewise advised to activate their Barangay Operation Center and conduct disaster preparedness measures.

On the other hand, all coastal communities are hereby advised to be on standby, fisherfolks, small watercraft, and small seagoing vessels are advised not to go into the seas.

“The general public is hereby advised to ensure the safety of their homes against heavy rains, strong winds, prepare their go-bags/survival kits, update family evacuation plan, family communications plan, and other preparations as necessary”.

Treñas said that around 20,000 Ilonggos are expected to be evacuated. Hence, the necessary preparations must be made.

“Around 20,000 Ilonggos are expected to be evacuated thus, I made sure that both food and non-food essentials are available to them, and enough water supply is also available to all 317 of our evacuation centers.  The team will also conduct their inspection to ensure the stability of our evacuation centers. We are also closely coordinating with telecom companies to avoid signal outages. MORE Power will also work with us to ensure that electricity will not be compromised,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. (ERS)