More than 746,000 people are projected to be affected by typhoon "Kiko" before it leaves the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Friday night, Sept. 10.
In a pre-recorded Cabinet meeting, NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said 746,889 people were projected be affected by heavy rains and strong winds brought by Kiko along its path, citing the data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
"Based on the predictive analytics of DSWD using PAGASA data on rainfall, around 746,000 individuals are projected to be affected by typhoon Kiko in the next 72 hours," Jalad said. The pre-recorded meeting was aired on Saturday morning, Sept. 11.
Jalad said most of the affected people are residents in northern Luzon such as Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region (Region 1), and Cagayan Valley (Region 2).
Other affected areas are Central Luzon (Region 3), Calabarzon (Region 4A), Mimaropa (Region 4B), Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Davao Region (Region 11), and Caraga (Region 13).
He urged the public to take precaution and be watchful against the effects of the typhoon as it reached maximum sustained winds of 215 km per hour, which is 10 km per hour short of a supertyphoon category, on Friday.
"Its gustiness is at 265 km per hour which is already at a super typhoon category," Jalad said, citing data from PAGASA.
Magat Dam
Jalad said the NDRRMC was particularly monitoring Magat Dam, the catchbasin of rainwater from Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region. The Magat Dam contributed to the heavy flooding in Cagayan Valley in November 2020 during the onslaught of typhoon Ulysses.
The water level of Magat Dam was still at 185.39 meters or around four meters below its spilling level of 190 meters as of Friday, he said.
Prepared
Jalad said local DRRM offices in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and CAR have already prepared more than 64,000 family food packs and an additional P9 million worth of food items and P23 million worth of non-food items for residents that would be affected by the typhoon.
A total of 415 individuals were also pre-emptively evacuated in Cagayan Valley as they were located in areas that are considered as danger zones.