Tacloban prepared for storm

TACLOBAN CITY — The Office of the Civil Defense in Eastern Visayas has alerted all its provincial and municipal disasters coordinating councils to prepare for typhoon "Seniang," which entered the Philippine area of responsibility Friday.

With storm warning Signal No. 3 hoisted over practically the entire Eastern Visayas region early yesterday, stranded passengers in the ports of Allen in Northern Samar rose to 852 including 19 buses, 11 light cars and 25 heavy trucks.

There were, however, no official accounting yet of stranded passengers in other ports such as Lilo-an, Bato and Ormoc as of press time.

OCD-8 Director Adrian Fuego said the number of stranded passengers in other ports may not be as high as the public has been alerted of the brewing storm since Friday.

The Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD) is on standby with stockpiles of food and clothing ready for distribution to stranded passengers in all the ports of the region.

Social Welfare Officer Marlene Kahano assured that the stocks were enough for the passengers and possible affected residents.

A DWSD crisis intervention team was also dispatched to Southern Leyte early yesterday morning to monitor incidents and augment the emergency response team of the province.

Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias said in a phone interview that the province’s provincial and municipal disaster coordinating councils have already convened early Friday to prepare for any damages of typhoon "Seniang."

She added that evacuation centers have already been designated for residents, especially those in landslide prone areas, shorelines and riverbanks.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways has already formed Task Force Seniang. Heavy quipment and vehicles are now on standby for immediate response to areas recently identified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-8 as landslide- and flood-prone areas.