High winds blow sea foam onto Jeanette’s Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina, Sunday as wind and rain from Hurricane Sandy move into the area. AP PHOTO
LOS ANGELES–Filipino American teacher Mary Anne Abdon vividly remembers the whipping winds, pelting rains and mass evacuations when Hurricane Irene struck Eastern United States last year.
“It was terrifying,” said Abdon, who had to evacuate their home, located three miles from the bay in Cape May, New Jersey. “But this one (Hurricane Sandy) scares us more. We expect it to be really, really bad.”
Hurricane Sandy is expected to make a landfall early Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) near the southern New Jersey coast, prompting officials to order a mass transit shutdown and widespread mandatory evacuations amid strong winds and heavy rains.
The National Hurricane Center said that Sandy was expected to bring “life-threatening storm surge flooding” to the mid-Atlantic coast.
The storm surge is expected to be as high as 9 feet in some areas, including Jersey City, New Jersey, which has a large Filipino American community,
The Philippine Embassy yesterday (Monday in Manila) issued an advisory urging Filipinos on the East Coast to “take all necessary precautions and brace themselves” for what has been described as the biggest storm in recent history.
The Philippine embassy said the advisory was sent to 11 states that were expected to be on the superstorm’s path. There are an estimated 310,000 Filipinos living in these states, according to the embassy.
Myrielle Falguera, a medical office administrator who lives in the seaside community of Long Beach, New York, said many Filipinos in the area have already evacuated their homes.
“Some friends and I decided to stay behind,” Falguera said. “It’s already cold and windy here. I hope we don’t lose electricity.”
Washington DC resident Arnedo Valera said his family stocked up on water, non-perishable food items, batteries and other essentials as early as Friday when they first heard about the approaching hurricane. “We’re glad we made early preparations,” he said. “We heard some grocery stores have run out of food items.”
Valera, a lawyer and community leader who volunteers for the legal team of President Obama’s local campaign, said he removed his “Vote for Obama” signs on his lawn in anticipation of strong winds and heavy rains. He said campaign activities were suspended.
Valera said their nonprofit group, Migrant Heritage Commission, forwarded the embassy’s advisory, along with government-issued emergency preparedness guidelines, to thousands of Filipinos on their e-mail database.
The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) on the East Coast also distributed the embassy’s advisory to its members, said Washington DC-based Bing Branigin, the group’s assistant director of communications. “We have full confidence in the government’s readiness to respond to emergencies,” Branigin said. “But we still have to remind community members not to be complacent and to be prepared.”
From left, Virginia National Guard Lt. Col. Doug Gagnon from Powhatan Va., shows Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell locations of national guard troops around the state in preparation for Hurricane Sandy during a visit to the Virginia Emergency Operations Center in Chesterfield County, Va., Sunday. AP PHOTO
Ambassador Jose Cuisia, Jr. said the Embassy and the Philippine Consulate General in New York have activated 24-hour help desks to assist Filipino tourists travelling along the East Coast who may be affected by the hurricane.
“We advise our kababayans staying along the path of Hurricane Sandy to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel until the storm has passed,” Cuisia said.
The advisory was sent to Filipino communities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
Filipinos who need assistance may call the embassy’s duty officer at (202) 368-2767 or the Consulate General in New York at (917) 294-0196, the advisory said.