Senators urge LGUs to assure preparation against typhoon ‘Ruby’

Sen. Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino. Photo courtesy of Bam Aquino on Facebook.

MANILA — Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and Loren Legarda on Thursday urged the local government units (LGUs) and concerned national government agencies to ensure adequate food supply and medicines and information dissemination in areas to be hit by typhoon “Ruby”.

“We need to ensure that there’s enough supply of food, medicine and other important basic goods in areas that will be hit by the super typhoon,” Aquino said

Legarda said the LGUs should ensure that information about the storm is relayed to their respective constituents particularly the about the expected storm surges and the evacuation plan.

“Every barangay (village) should gather their citizens or have roaming officials to inform citizens of the effects of the coming typhoon and the preparedness measures that every family should undertake,” said Legarda, an environmentalist.

”Are we expecting a storm surge? Then, we should warn our communities of the expected height of the waves and how far inland the flooding would reach. This would help us ensure that people are evacuated in safe places that would not be reached by the storm surge,” she added.

Aside from ensuring enough supply, Aquino called on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and local government units to strictly monitor prices of goods as some businesses may take advantage of the situation.

Aquino also urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to prepare contingency measures to ensure that important routes are passable after the storm.

“We need to ensure that roads and bridges are passable so that the flow of basic goods to areas hit by the typhoon will not be hampered,” said Aquino.

According to the weather bureau, typhoon “Ruby” (international name: Hagupit) may make landfall over Samar Saturday morning.

PAGASA said Ruby is packing maximum winds of 195 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 230 kilometer per hour.