TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) -– The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has started rebuilding their office 30 months after super typhoon Yolanda razed their building to the ground.
PAGASA Tacloban station chief Mario Peñaranda said that under original timeline, the new building will be done within five months, but unfavorable weather in the second half of the year, may push completion date.
“This is safe from storm surges since it is a two-storey building and it will have a rooftop,” Peñaranda said.
Construction works for the perimeter fence has started last month and it will be followed with civil works for the new building.
The new PAGASA station will rise on a lot near the Philippine Air Force unit camp at the Tacloban Airport complex.
The state weather bureau kicked off the construction after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines designated an area within the airport complex for PAGASA station building and other government offices such as the Philippine Coast Guard and the Leyte police provincial office.
“Our presence at the airport is very important because we provide weather data, information and advice for aviation activities,” Peñaranda said, justifying their location at the airport complex badly hit by big waves.Weather forecasters currently use an office space in one of the laboratory rooms of the Department of Science and Technology in Government Center, Palo, Leyte.
Despite absence of office building, their regular operations have been restored using old and newly acquired instruments, according to Peñaranda. (PNA)
