Bicol quake drill deferred as OCD focus shifts to typhoons

By Ernie Delgado

LEGAZPI CITY --- The regionwide earthquake drill scheduled for Thursday, November 6, has been postponed to allow organizers to focus on disaster response due to impending tropical cyclones.

Claudio Yucot, the director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for Bicol and chair of the Bicol Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), stated in a memorandum that the Emergency Operations Center of RDRRMC will focus its efforts on responding to the threats posed by the tropical cyclones.

Yucot said the postponement of the earthquake drill also anticipates potential disruptions affecting the agency set to host the event, as well as other stakeholders, due to the impending weather disturbances in the country.

This earthquake drill was intended to be held for the fourth time this year to demonstrate the interoperability of the Disaster Control Group of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Bicol in the event of an Intensity 7 earthquake and a tsunami threat, he added.

Currently, a tropical cyclone, Severe Tropical Storm Fung-Wong, is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). This occurred after Typhoon Tino, which devastated the Visayas region on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Fung-Wong, which will be named Uwan upon entering PAR—likely by midnight or early morning on November 8—is forecast to bring heavy rainfall to most parts of the Bicol region starting Sunday.

State weather forecasters were not ruling out the possibility that Fung-Wong, which is expected to strengthen into a supertyphoon, will approach the Bicol region first before hitting northern and central Luzon. (PIA Bicol/Masbate)