By Aida Raut
MISAMIS ORIENTAL, (PNA) – Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano has ordered the suspension of classes for all levels in Misamis Oriental effective 1 p.m. Friday to send everybody home earlier in anticipation of upcoming Typhoon Ruby.
In Cagayan De Oro City, classes in all levels were also suspended Friday afternoon as the city declared a “yellow alert” for all living near the rivers and streams in the city’s urban and suburb areas.
The yellow alert means that all residents near the rivers and streams must prepare and keep watch for possible flash floods the moment heavy rains start to fall as Typhoon Ruby starts to pummel Northern Mindanao.
The PAGASA has tracked down Typhoon Ruby internationally known “Hagupit” to be moving toward Eastern Samar at 15 kilometers per hour with a maximum sustained wind of 215 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 250 kilometers per hour as 11:00 a.m. Friday.
The local weather bureau has alerted residents of the mountainous areas of Misamis Oriental and the rest of the provinces of North and Northeastern Mindanao of flash floods and landslides.
Emano said that the provincial disaster risk, reduction management council has shifted 70 percent of all precautionary measures to the eastern district of Misamis Oriental, particularly in the coastal town of Magsaysay, the bordering town of the province and Agusan Del Norte.
“We have started moving the pay loaders, bulldozers, and other heavy equipment to Magsaysay this morning to respond to possible landslides in nearby towns,” Edumundo Pacamalan, Jr., the PDRRMC head said.
He said that the PDRRMC has also established a command center in Gingoog City, a component city, east of Misamis Oriental, starting Friday afternoon. “The main PDRRMC headquarters remained at the provincial capitol in Cagayan De Oro City,” he said.
Since Tuesday, the PDRRMC in Misamis Oriental has been closely watching the development of Typhoon Ruby as Governor Emano on Thursday called for an expanded alert involving all other government line agencies in the national government’s regional offices, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).