Satellite image of TS Auring on February 18, 2021 from Pagasa
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Local state weather bureau and disaster response teams are now bracing for the onslaught of the first storm to hit the country this year, which will likely pass and directly hit Cebu.
‘Auring’ has intensified into a Tropical Storm as of 8 a.m., Thursday (February 18), the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported.
It now packs winds with speeds of 65 kilometers per hour (kph) with gustiness reaching up to 80 kph while moving slowly in a northwestward direction.
Pagasa in Mactan, in a phone interview, confirmed that they are projecting the storm to be headed directly towards northern and central Cebu.
“Our current models show that Auring will most likely make landfall in the central and northern parts of Cebu this Sunday evening,” said Romeo Aguirre, weather specialist of Pagasa-Mactan, in Cebuano.
“Although we did not rule out the possibility that it could also hit southern Cebu because based on our forecast track, our cone of uncertainty is wide,” he added.
Auring was last spotted 685 kilometers East Southeast of Hinatuan town in Surigao del Sur as of 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Before it will make its first landfall over Caraga region between Saturday evening (February 20) and Sunday morning (February 21), Pagasa noted that chances are high for it to further intensify into a ‘severe tropical storm’.
In the meantime, Pagasa-Mactan said they are now closely coordinating with disaster and rescue teams in Cebu to discuss pre-disaster preparations.
Aguirre said they have already advised local government units (LGUs) to mobilize disaster-mitigating assets.
“We are conducting pre-disaster risk assessment today (Thursday). So far, we advised our LGUs (local government units) to mobilize their assets, especially on areas high-risk of floodings and landslides,” he explained.
Cebu province
A pre-disaster conference took place at the Capitol on Thursday morning wherein the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and other government agencies discussed responses towards Auring’s onslaught.
Neil Sanchez, head of PDRRMO, said they are planning to raise Blue Alert status all over Cebu between tonight and Friday.
“We will elevate our alert level to Blue tonight or tomorrow. This means that as far as the operation centers are concerned, all personnel should be intact, regular monitoring is encouraged, and prepositioning of equipment in case the need for deployment arises,” said Sanchez.
He also said they instructed their counterparts in LGUs to start identifying and activating evacuation centers.
And with continuing threats of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the PDRRMO top official urged local authorities to make sure minimum health standards are observed when evacuation will be carried out.
“Let’s be realistic about it. When we say social distancing in evacuation centers, it’s really hard to implement this. Maybe, what we can do or what we can tell to our local DRRMOs and LGUs to at least observe minimum health standards like frequent hand washing and wearing face masks,” Sanchez said.
PDRRMO also instructed local disaster and rescue personnel to seek the assistance of law enforcement to expedite future evacuation efforts. /rcg
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