NDRRMC tells regional offices to prepare for Typhoon Soudelor

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has advised its regional offices to go on standby for Typhoon Soudelor, which is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility early Wednesday.

In a phone interview with GMA News Online, NDRRMC spokesperson Mina Marasigan said regional disaster management councils and local government units in Palawan, western and central Visayas, and Mindanao have been told to preposition their assets.

"We have already sent advisories to regional offices to go on standby," Marasigan said.

"We are all monitoring PAGASA," she added.

Marasigan said aside from their regional disaster management councils, also on standby are the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the relief packs, the Department of Public Works and Highways for the marking of the landslide-prone areas, and local responders for medical needs.

With maximum sustained winds in excess of 280 kph as of Tuesday morning, Typhoon Soudelor is the strongest Pacific typhoon to date this year.

Soudelor is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) early Wednesday, and is on track to head straight for Taiwan without making landfall in the Philippines. It will be named "Hanna" upon entry. -NB, GMA News