CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Cagayan de Oro prepared for mass evacuations after it raised the alert level as Tropical Storm Kabayan (Jelawat) strengthened and threatened to bring widespread rain and flooding across Mindanao on Monday, December 18.

Coast Guard-Cagayan de Oro Station acting commander Captain Joselito Maluyo said maritime traffic for all vessels and watercraft in Northern Mindanao has been suspended since Sunday night.

Nick Jabagat, chief of the Cagayan de Oro Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said they went on red alert in anticipation of a worst-case scenario.

“The eastern barangays of Bugo, Puerto, Agusan, Tablon, Cugman and Agusan are always high risk because rivers there could overflow,” Jabagat said.

City hall has set up at least 36 evacuation centers throughout Cagayan de Oro in anticipation of preemptive and even forced evacuations in the event of a worst-case scenario.

Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy has issued Executive Order 420-2023 suspending classes in both public and private pre-schools in the city due to Tropical Storm Kabayan effective Monday.

In neighboring Camiguin province, 14 families or over 70 people from high-risk areas in Sagay town have been evacuated to safer grounds by the local government, according to Antonio Sugarol, director of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Northern Mindanao.

The OCD said local disaster response teams across the region are preparing for potential flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Kabayan. 

Kabayan intensified from tropical depression into a tropical storm Sunday night. 

In a 7 am advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the center of Kabayan was over the coastal waters of Manay, Davao Oriental, with maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (km/h) near the center, gustiness of up to 80 km/h, and moving estward at 20 km/h.

Tropical cyclone wind signal (TCWS) No. 2 is in effect in these areas:

• Dinagat Islands
• Surigao del Norte (including Siargao, Bucas Grande Islands) 
• Surigao del Sur
• northern Agusan del Norte
• eastern Agusan del Sur
• northern Davao Oriental.

TCWS No. 2 means that gale force winds are 62 to 88 km/h and pose minor to moderate threat to life and property.

TCWS No. 1 is in effect in the following areas:

• Southern Palawan
• Cagayancillo Islands
• Southern Leyte
• Leyte
• southern Samar
• eastern Samar
• Cebu
• Bohol
• Siquijor
• Negros Oriental
• Negros Occidental
• Guimaras.

Land areas under rainfall warning (100-200 mm per hour): 

• Surigao del Sur
• Surigao del Norte
• Dinagat Islands
• Agusan del Sur
• Davao del Norte
• Davao de Oro
• Davao Oriental.

Land areas under rainfall warning (50-100 mm per hour)

• Central Visayas
• Biliran
• Leyte
• Southern Leyte
• Zamboanga del Norte
• Northern Mindanao
• Davao City
• Cotabato
• Lanao del Sur

PAGASA issued a gale warning on the coastal waters along Northern Luzon, eastern and central Visayas, and eastern seaboards of Central and Southern Luzon and Mindanao. Sea travel is risky for small seacraft.

Kabayan has been forecast to make landfall as a tropical storm along the coast of Davao Oriental and may be downgraded into a tropical depression over Mindanao.

Emerging over the Sulu Sea, it may make another landfall over central or southern Palawan, then move across the West Philippine Sea.

The current track and intensity forecast may change, and concerned offices are advised to take necessary measures. – Rappler.com