The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte in Bicol, and three Samar provinces are now under Signal No. 2.

Signal No. 1 has been hoisted over Marinduque; Burias and Ticao Islands in Masbate; southern Quezon and Polilio Island in Quezon province; Northern Leyte; and Biliran.

Science Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said the public is advised to be on alert in these areas.

The typhoon is packing 130- kilometer-per-hour winds with gustiness of up to 160 kph. It is expected to be 170 km east-northeast of Catarman, Northern Samar, by Thursday morning.   

Residents of disaster-prone areas in the three provinces in the Bicol region were ordered to leave their homes on Wednesday as more than 1,000 passengers on their way to Manila onboard roll-on, roll-off buses were stranded at the port in Allen, Northern Samar.

The preemptive evacuation of residents in low-lying and risk-prone areas in Albay, Catanduanes and Sorsogon were ordered by disaster-control officials.

“We expect that everybody who has been ordered to evacuate will follow,” said executive director Benito Ramos of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Ramos said local officials in the affected provinces have been instructed to enforce the evacuation order.

In Samar Lt. Col. Noel Vestuir, commander of the Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion, said 20 passenger buses, 92 trucks and 17 light cars with a total of 1,143 passengers were stranded in Allen, Northern Samar.

Ramos said Chedeng might wreak havoc on agriculture, noting that the country is already in the harvest season. “The damage could be significant as some of the farmers are already harvesting, while others are already beginning to plant crops,” he said.

Ramos said the recent Typhoon Bebeng destroyed P1.3 billion worth of agriculture products, but this could be surpassed by Chedeng.

The government gave assurance that it is prepared to provide assistance in the form of palay and corn seeds to farmers who will be affected by Chedeng, Agriculture Undersecretary Joel Rudinas said.

“We are currently monitoring the typhoon. We are prepared to provide seeds [to affected farmers] so they could replace the crops that would be damaged,” Rudinas said in a text message. He said the government has a ready rehabilitation fund, which it can tap to help farmers who will suffer losses because of the typhoon.

The typhoon is threatening to damage Cagayan province, a major producer of corn in the Philippines.

Chedeng was feared to bring nearly as much rain as Typhoon Ondoy in 2009. Ondoy flooded about 80 percent of Metro Manila and caused the death of more than 400 people. 

Chairman Francis Tolentino of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday said 60 percent of the workforce of the Metro Manila Disaster-Risk Reduction and Management Council will be on alert and deployed after it placed all its disaster and emergency response units under “blue alert” in anticipation of Chedeng hitting Metro Manila.

Blue alert, Tolentino said, makes available all MMDA equipment and rescue units. It is the second-highest alert level of the council, which is raised when a heavy downpour is experienced for at least an hour.

Tolentino said its Rescue Unit and Road Emergency Group and other related units have also been deployed until Saturday, when Chedeng is expected to exit the country.

“We’re ready as we can be. But the people should do their part by ensuring that they, too, are ready in times of calamities like this,” he added.