MALASIQUI, Pangasinan - The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the Ilocos Region (RDRRMC-1) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Wednesday raised the region's alert status to red to prepare for the possible effects of Super Typhoon Leon (international name Kong-Rey). 'In view of the projected track of Leon and possible adverse effects of the weather system in the region, the RDRRMC-1 Emergency Operations Center (EOC) raises the alert status from Blue to Red and EPR elevates protocol from 'Bravo' to 'Charlie' effective October 30,' OCD Ilocos officer-in-charge Carmelita Laverinto said in a memorandum issued on Wednesday. Based on the 11 a.m. bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Ilocos Norte has been placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 2 while the rest of the provinces in the region - Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan - are under TCWS No. 1. PAGASA said Leon is forecast to move northwestward over the Philippine Sea and is expected to make landfall along the eastern coast of Taiwan Thursday afternoon. The weather disturbance is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Friday. A red alert is activated when there is an imminent emergency situation which stresses the need for the highest level of monitoring, coordination, and reporting, according to the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Ilocos Region. 'Charlie' EPR protocol indicates high risk, which entails the following actions and preparedness measures: send warning and advisories; cascade preparedness directives; activate EOC to Red Alert; activate majority or all Response Clusters; recommend for class and/or work suspension, pre-emptively evacuate communities; mobilize rapid deployment teams in strategic areas; provide augmentation of resources to communities; account, assess, and ensure operational readiness of response and critical facilities; monitor secondary hazards; secure properties, small sea vessels and other assets to saf er ground; ensure maritime safety of all watercraft; issue appropriate travel advisory; and release of situational report. Relatively, the Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and other concerned government agencies on Wednesday held a pre-disaster risk assessment for the upcoming long weekend and the weather disturbance. With these developments, PAGASA-Dagupan City chief meteorological officer Jose Estrada Jr., in a phone interview on Wednesday, advised the public to be prepared for the rains, especially in the afternoon. "The prevailing weather is localized thunderstorms. Pangasinan might be removed from the list of those under storm signal in the coming days since Leon is moving upwards," he said. Estrada also discounted the need for forced evacuation in the province. "Walang storm surge. Storm surge is possible lang pag mag-landfall.(Pero) hindi naman magla-land fall (yung bagyo kaya sa atin kaya) hindi kailangan (ng) force evacuation dahil malayo naman sa atin (There i s no storm surge. Storm surge is only possible if it will make a landfall. But it is not forecast to make a landfall in our country so there is no need for forced evacuation since it is far from us)," he said. Source: Philippines News Agency