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Coastal villages, tourists alerted on Tsunami threat
Date:
The Alaminos government issued a public advisory to the ten coastal barangays here on the possible Tsunami that might hit the country following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck south west of Taiwan Tuesday night.
Mayor Hernani A. Braganza ordered a marathon info-education drive particularly in the shoreline villages minutes after the breaking news was flashed in the TV screens at around 9 PM.
City Administrator Wilmer S. Panabang was tasked to lead a composite team that will issue stern warnings to the immediate target of the giant waves.
The joint elements composed of PNP and POSO personnel, members of the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) and barangay leaders spent the rest of the evening until the wee hours of the following day directing the constituents to seek higher ground.
Panabang apologized to his city mates for the inconveniences that his team might have caused them during the entire duration of the house-to-house emergency Tsunami alert advisory.
“It’s better to disturb them in the middle of their sleep and feel secured rather than doing it the following day and pay the high price of being remiss of our duties,” Panabang told Alaminians in phone interview with DZWM.
“We don’t know when these killer waves might strike us in the future, so we must to be prepared at all times and hope that our worst fears will never happen.”
According to the Administrator, fishermen were also asked to refrain their fishing until warnings on the possible threat both from the national and local government are lifted.
The city has even sent home some tourists who stayed overnight at the Hundred Islands and advised others to defer, for the meantime their visit to the national park in a couple of days to avert untoward incidents that might happen just in case the destructive waves arrives.
Alaminos is just one of the coastal towns northern Luzon that is vulnerable to powerful tsunamis like those which devastated some south and east Asian countries two years ago and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
But unlike other coastal cities and municipalities or island towns, Alaminos has a natural barrier on Hundred Islands which is said to have been protecting the local folks from strong typhoons for decades.
The cityfolks are hoping and praying that like the hands of God these armada-like lush green islands will continue to serve in the future as the city’s great shield from the nature’s wrath. (CIO)
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