LEGAZPI CITY -- (UPDATE 2) Disaster officials in Albay province have started forcibly evacuating 130,000 families or 654,000 persons as typhoon “Mina” (international codename: Mitag) nears the Bicol Region, according to disaster and local officials.

In its 4 p.m. bulletin on Thursday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said "Mina" was spotted 400 kilometers east of Virac town in Catanduanes province. The storm's maximum sustained winds increased to 140 kilometers per hour with gusts of up to 170 kilometers per hour.

With this forecast, heavy rainfall and strong winds remain imminent, said Vicente Manalo III, a senior forecaster sent by the PAGASA central office to Albay to act as its resident meteorologist until Sunday.

He said “preemptive evacuation “of lahar- and flood-prone areas must be prioritized while evacuation of the eastern seaboard families could be put on hold.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council in the Bicol Region will meet on Friday morning to determine whether to evacuate more people.

As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, an estimated 1,800-2,000 families, or roughly 9,000 people, were evacuated from villages surrounding Mayon Volcano in the provincial capital of Legazpi City and in Camalig, Daraga, and Guinobatan towns, said Bernardo Alejandro, NDCC chief for the Bicol Region.

The evacuation would continue until Friday morning, Alejandro said. Officials hope to evacuate some 50,000 people within the volcano's perimeter, on fears that the coming rains will trigger lahar flows.

"We are evacuating the elderly and children first," Alejandro told reporters in a phone interview from Guinobatan, where he was supervising the evacuation efforts.

On Friday morning, disaster officials in Albay will meet to decide whether or not to implement the full evacuation plan, which will include a total of 200,000 people near the volcano as well as those on the eastern seaboard, and the province's river basin.

Outside of the Mayon perimeter, Alejandro said two other areas could be evacuated: the river basin in Oas, Liago, Malipon, and Polangui towns, and the towns on the eastern seaboard.

As of Thursday morning, 6,927 families were being evacuated from Polangui town alone, Governor Joey Salceda said.

Cedric Daep, executive officer of the provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC), echoed this concern.

Areas prone to mudflows or lahar include parts of the cities of Tabaco, Ligao, and Legazpi and the towns of Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga, Sto. Domingo, and Malilipot, Daep said.

Most of these areas are located at the southeast quadrant of Mt. Mayon, where much of the volcanic debris has been deposited since it is where the crater rim is lowest, he said.

In Camarines Sur province, 2,275 people have been evacuated as the floods, caused by tropical storm "Lando" (international codename: Hagibis) earlier this week, were expected to be aggravated by the new storm, Alejandro said.

Meanwhile, the eastern seaboard covering the coastal areas is in the cities of Legazpi and Tabaco and the towns of Tiwi, Bacacay, Malinao, Malilipot, Sto. Domingo and Manito -- all facing the Albay gulf.

Salceda said there were approximately 484,000 families living along the eastern seaboard of Albay, 180,000 of who were living along the coastlines and are at risk of storm surges.

Daep said people living in houses made of light materials were also set for evacuation.

Salceda said women and children would be the first ones to be evacuated while male members of the families could stay behind to watch over their houses until storm signal No. 3 has been raised.

He has requested P67 million in emergency disaster funds from the President who cut short her five-day ASEAN trip and flew back to the country Wednesday night to check on the impact of typhoons “Lando” and “Mina.”

The funds will primarily be used for the purchase of food rations consisting of three kilograms of rice, four cans of sardines, six noodle packs, and three liters of water for every five-member family.

However, supply of medicines in the province is “nil” at present, reported Dr. Julian Salazar, assistant provincial health officer in Albay.

He said three teams would be deployed to each of the three districts of Albay by Friday to assess and evaluate the health situation in evacuation centers.

"We will look into the water supply and health condition of the evacuees.

After assessing their needs, we will purchase medical supplies," Salazar
said.

He said the PHO lacked vehicles for its operations and was looking into the possibility of immediately purchasing these as soon as funds were ready.

He said Municipal Health Office staff would be stationed in evacuation centers to tend to the immediate needs of the evacuees.

Daep said the government would provide security personnel at the evacuated areas and designated shelters.

He said the governor also ordered the close monitoring of prices of basic and prime commodities such as food throughout the disaster.

In a joint meeting by the PDCC and the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council Wednesday morning, local government units were instructed to identify public schools as possible safe shelters to house evacuees.

Salceda suspended classes in all levels in both public and private schools in Albay so that the rooms could be set up as evacuation centers.

The incumbent village chiefs were tasked to lead the implementation of the evacuation order.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Albay also enacted a resolution placing the province under preparation stage and authorizing governors, mayors, and village chiefs to use 5 percent of their calamity funds for preemptive and responsive disaster action.

Raffy Alejandro, Bicol Director of the Office of Civil Defense, said that around 200,000 more families in the Camarines Sur province were to be preemptively evacuated.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered on Wednesday an immediate three-day preemptive evacuation in lahar zones, flood plains and coastal areas in Albay.