The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has placed the country under “red alert” status as Typhoon Nando continues to intensify over the Philippine Sea.
In an advisory released Saturday, the NDRRMC announced the issuance of Memorandum 245, elevating the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (NDRRMOC) to its highest alert level.
A red alert is activated to address an ongoing or imminent emergency, ensuring the full staffing of response agencies and the immediate coordination of all government units involved.
Under this directive, detailed duty officers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine National Police, along with technical staff from other key agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH), are required to be on duty at the NDRRMOC.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, PAGASA reported that Typhoon Nando was located 775 km east of Casiguran, Aurora, carrying maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the center, gusts of up to 150 kph, and moving west-northwestward at 10 kph.
The state weather bureau added that Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 would be raised over Northern Luzon and the eastern section of Central Luzon by Saturday afternoon.
Based on its current track, Nando could either pass close to or make landfall over Batanes or the Babuyan Islands by Monday afternoon or evening before exiting the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Tuesday morning.