By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) was told to prepare for the upcoming storm.

Based on an advisory issued by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) as of 10:00 a.m. yesterday, the storm, which is still currently classified as a tropical depression was last located 1,760 kilometers east of Mindanao and currently moving westward at 10 kilometers per hour (kph).

The storm will immediately be named as “Odette” once it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility sometime today and will very likely traverse between southern Visayas and Mindanao between tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday.

Pagasa has yet to issue tropical cyclone warning signals although the Office of Civil Defense in Western Visayas had already ordered all local disaster risk reduction and management offices (DRRMO) in the region to prepare.

Negros Occidental’s provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, said that Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has ordered the PDMPD and the local DRRMOs in various towns and cities in the province to make the necessary preparations.

Aside from preparing for the upcoming storm, Diaz has also urged the Negrenses to pray that the storm spare not just Negros Occidental but the neighboring provinces as well.

Lacson is also expected to release an order for Negros Occidental DRRMOs soon, and they were advised to continue monitoring Pagasa for further developments.

Further forecast from Pagasa regarding the storm’s track and intensity also points that “Odette” will likely be located over the coastal waters of Cauayan town in Negros Occidental by Friday, December 17, if it maintains its current course and speed.

During that time, the storm will likely maintain its typhoon strength with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph./DGB, WDJ