Hundreds of evacuees in the town of Libertad in this province returned home Monday morning as the weather has improved.

Libertad Mayor Mary Jean Te said in an interview that they conducted the preemptive evacuation of residents in low-lying villages on Sunday morning to ensure their safety as Super Typhoon Rolly lashed at Luzon.

“There were around 24 households that were evacuated from Barangays Union and Barusbus,” she said.

Te said these families were temporarily sheltered in their barangay halls and churches with some opting to stay with relatives.

“The local government unit provided relief goods for the evacuated families who now have returned to their respective homes,” she said.

The mayor said they decided to conduct preemptive evacuation after Libertad was reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council as one of Antique’s northern towns placed under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal (TCWS) No. 2 last Saturday.

“I am just thankful that the storm weakened that it did not really affect much of our agricultural crops,” she said.

The Philippine Coast Guard-Antique Station also canceled the trips of passenger vessels from Libertad to Caluya as well as in other ports of the province due to “Rolly”.

“We are used to having typhoons that is why we also had intensified our information dissemination and preparedness,” Te said.

She said that Libertad’s Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office had been closely monitoring the weather forecasts so they would be ready to respond to any eventuality. (PNA)