MANILA - World Vision is coordinating with government officials to evacuate people Friday evening in anticipation Saturday of “Super Typhoon Parma,” which is carrying sustained winds exceeding 200kmph and threatens to be more destructive than last Sunday’s Typhoon Ketsana.

Three of the agency’s area development programmes in the Aurora and Isabela provinces are expected to be in the typhoon’s path, according to Ms Fe Olonan, the organisation’s programme manager for the region. Plans are underway to relocate people to schools, churches, community centres and other secure buildings on higher ground.

Ironically, sunny weather and slight winds on Friday early evening were giving local residents no indication of the potentially deadly approaching storm, Olonan said. Parma currently is classified as a Category 5 typhoon, the highest and most destructive rating and on par with Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans in 2005 to such deadly effect. The region is home to mixed housing, including very vulnerable barrio dwellings made of wood.

Olonan said people had been chopping down trees that could blow over and strengthening their homes in readiness for the storm.

“We have alerted our programme staff, and they are now closely coordinating with local councils for a synchronized response” she said. They aimed to get people into safe evacuation centres hours before the storm. World Vision staff were ready to assist with food distributions and the setting up of Child Friendly Spaces should they be needed after the storm had passed.

Moreover, World Vision staff earlier this year worked with government officials and community leaders in the region on disaster preparedness and management, lessons that will prove invaluable over the next several days. World Vision has also coordinated with the National Food Authority regarding the pre-positioning of food supplies.

The country is bracing for the worst as the typhoon is expected to hit landfall tomorrow (Saturday), with the worst of the storm hitting the area mid-day to early afternoon.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has ordered the evacuation of coastal towns in the path of the storm and, in the capital, Manila, thousands have fled their homes for higher ground.

Contacts:

Jose “Boy” Bersales, HEA Director
Tel: (+63) 9215601949

Filomena “Minnie” Portales, Advocacy & Communications Director
Tel: (+63) 9175342165

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