MORE than 900,000 people across Luzon and the Visayas have preemptively evacuated as Super Typhoon Uwan (international name: Fung-wong) continues to threaten large parts of the country, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported Sunday.
As of 11 a.m., 916,863 individuals, or 270,682 families, have sought shelter in evacuation centers across the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Metro Manila, Bicol Region, and the Visayas, OCD Deputy Administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said.
The Bicol Region recorded the highest number of evacuees with 660,720 individuals (192,765 families), followed by Eastern Visayas with 112,760 individuals (32,020 families), and Calabarzon with 74,388 individuals (24,209 families). Alejandro said 522 evacuation centers have been opened, with more expected as evacuations continue.
Over 50,000 personnel from the Armed Forces, police, Coast Guard, and other agencies are on standby for rescue operations, though Alejandro stressed that early evacuations aim to minimize the need for such deployments.
Flooding has already been reported in Guinobatan, Albay, and Virac, Catanduanes. Several provinces in Bicol have also implemented preemptive power shutdowns to prevent electrical accidents.
PAGASA warned that Uwan, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kph and gusts up to 230 kph, could make landfall in Aurora between Sunday night and Monday morning.
