Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor has likened the strength of Typhoon "Quinta" to Typhoon "Tisoy" which wrought havoc in the province in December last year.

Oriental Mindoro declared a state of calamity last year due to the onslaught of Typhoon "Tisoy." It left the province with an estimated P87.3 million worth of damage to infrastructure and P300 million worth of damage to the agriculture sector.

In an interview with DZMM on Monday, Dolor said that while rainfall was not heavy in Oriental Mindoro, the province was battered by strong winds.

“Sa description ko personally, at sa deskripsyon ng mga mayors na nakausap ko, makukumpara siya sa lakas ni Tisoy dati (From my personal description, and description of other mayors I have talked to, Typhoon Quinta’s strength can be likened to Typhoon Tisoy’s),” Dolor said.

“Bagaman di pa ganoon bumabaha ng malaki, pero nasa critical level na ang lahat ng aming major river systems as of this moment (While there are no major floodings reported yet, out major rivers systems are at the critical level),” the governor added.

Dolor said they weren’t expecting that Typhoon "Quinta" will be as strong as Typhoon "Tisoy."

“All the while, we were thinking na ordinary lang na Signal No. 2, tapos Signal No. 3 na mahina, and yet compared kay 'Tisoy,' it’s the same strength na meron si 'Tisoy' (All the while we’re thinking that what we’ll experience will be an ordinary Signal No.2, or a weak Signal No. 3, and yet compared to Tisoy, I think they are the same in term of strength),” Dolor said.

Typhoon "Quinta" made it’s fifth landfall over Pola, Oriental Mindoro early Monday morning. Tropical cyclone warning signal No. 3 remained hoisted over the central and northern portion of the province.

Dolor said more than a thousand families have been affected by Typhoon "Quinta," most of them from coastal barangays as of Monday.

Dolor, meanwhile, assured that physical distancing is being observed in evacuation centers.

The governor said about only six to eight people are allowed per classroom.

“Unlike dati, pwede ang bente kaya lang because of physical distancing, we’re maintaining at least two to three meters apart from each other (Unlike before, we can have at least 20 persons inside an evacuation room, but now, we’re trying to observe physical distancing and trying to maintain at least to three meters apart from each other ),” Dolor said.