MANILA, Philippines - Fourteen people — one of them a baby —were killed in the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Bicol as typhoon “Pepeng” (international name “Parma”) mowed through these regions, and Cagayan Valley and the Ilocos Region on Saturday.
No deaths were reported in the Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley.
Pepeng is expected to be 210 kms northwest of Laoag City this afternoon; 230 kms north northwest of Laoag City tomorrow afternoon and at 240 kms west of Laoag City by Wednesday afternoon.
Pepeng remained almost stationary off Laoag City due to the presence of another strong typhoon outside the Philippines, the weather bureau said yesterday.
Nathaniel Cruz, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration deputy administrator, said Pepeng might remain almost stationary for the next 24 to 72 hours after “interacting” with typhoon “Melor.”
“It is possible that it would return to Northern Luzon because of its interaction with Melor,” he said.
Cruz said Melor, which was moving fast, is expected to enter the country late this afternoon or early evening, based on latest forecast.
Once it enters the country, Melor would be given the local name “Quedan,” he added.
Senior weather forecaster Robert Sawi said Pepeng would likely merge with Melor and move northward towards Japan.
“The scenario of hitting Central Luzon is very slim,” he said.
However, Cruz said stormy weather would continue to prevail over northwestern Luzon.
“The public should continue being prepared,” he said.
Cruz said Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon would experience cloudy skies and rain showers.
“But not as bad as in the past days,” he said.
“The extreme Northern Luzon and the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Abra will experience stormy weather while the rest of Northern Luzon will have rains and gusty winds with moderate to rough seas.
“The rest of Luzon will be cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms while the rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.”
As of yesterday afternoon, Melor was spotted some 600 kilometers east of the Philippines with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour near the center. It was moving west northwest at 24 kph.
Storm signal No. 3 remains hoisted over the Batanes Group of islands, Northern Cagayan, Babuyan, Calayan Islands, Ilocos Norte and Apayao.
Signal No. 2 was still raised over Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga and rest of Cagayan.
Placed under Signal No. 1 were La Union, Benguet, Mt. Province and Northern Isabela.
12 killed in Benguet; 2 in Camarines Norte
In Benguet 12 people were killed in a landslide in Barangay Beckel in La Trinidad and Barangay Ampucao in Itogon town, all in Benguet province, according to Olive Luces, Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera Administrative Region director.
Chief Superintendent Samuel Diciano, CAR police deputy regional director for administration, said the five buried in a landslide in Beckel, La Trinidad were Catalina Tabora, Laruan Tabora, Zenia Galbey, Rustom Galbey and Daphne Galbey. a one-year old baby.
Miners Ernesto Gabayni from Mankayan town in Benguet; Alex Cadasa Rufino, 21, from Apayao; two more still unidentified miners and three children: Jeric Cadasa, 10; Jonie Cadasa, 8 and Lanoy Cadasa, 12 were dug out from the mudslide in sitio Manganese, Ampucao, Itogon town Benguet, according to Senior Superintendent Ramil Saculles Cordillera police regional operations chief.
The seven miners were sleeping inside their temporary quarters at around 1 p.m. when a huge landslide buried them, he added.
The two other fatalities were from Naga and Baao in Camarines Norte, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
A total of 169,941 persons have been evacuated in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Metro Manila as a preemptive measure, the NDCC added.
The evacuees are now staying with relatives and in 171 designated evacuation centers, the agency said.
The NDCC said the actual number of affected persons was placed at 68,589.
The initial estimate of damage to agriculture was estimated at P14.8 million, the NDCC added.
Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, NDCC spokesman said the casualties from Pepeng, as compared to Ondoy’s were lower because of the preemptive evacuation of residents from hazardous areas.
Pepeng brought massive devastation to the area but no floods because the Cagayan River did not overflow, according to Chito Castro, OCD chief for Cagayan Valley.
In Ilocos Norte, clearing operations in Barangay Tarrag in Pagudpud were suspended after a Navy disaster response team was nearly buried by a landslide.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman, said troops were advised to take extra caution in their operations to prevent any untoward incident while helping communities affected by the typhoon.
2 killed in accidents
Camp Nakar, Lucena City — Two people were killed in two different accidents during heavy rains brought by typhoon Pepeng in Quezon province last Saturday.
The first fatality, Melanie Salcedo, 27, died after the van she was riding collided with a parked truck in Padre Burgos town.
Ten of the van’s passengers were injured and taken to hospital.
The second fatality, Arceli Magpayo, 84, was hit by a tree while evacuating from Barangay Mabutag in Buenavista town, according to the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council led by Dr. Henry Buzar.
Blackout in northern Luzon; no outside communications
Many areas in northern Luzon remained blacked out and cut off from communication yesterday.
Strong winds from Pepeng knocked down cables and telephone lines in northern Luzon, according to Armand Araneta, a civil defense official.
The provinces of Apayao, Kalinga, and Ifugao remained without electricity yesterday.
Several areas of Baguio City and Benguet were also suffering from blackouts.
Telecommunications in the hardest hit province of Cagayan was intermittent at best, while the provincial capital of Tuguegarao and other towns were still without electricity, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.
There were also power interruptions in towns across Mountain Province and Abra, where residents were using generators, the agency added.
Fallen trees and electrical posts, as well as flooding on highways due to swollen rivers and landslides were also making it difficult to assess the full damage of the typhoon, officials said.
Power, phone lines and Internet links were down across northern Luzon, making it difficult to get reports about the extent of damage.
Cordillera police director Chief Superintendent Orlando Pestano said they are presently closely monitoring the Ambuklao, Binga and San Roque dams, whose water level rose slightly.
Several areas were closed to traffic like the Malanas bridge in San Juan town in Abra; Apayao-Ilocos road and Kabugao-Pudtol-Luna road in Apayao; Kennon Road, Long-Long road, and Lamtang Road in Benguet; Hapid bridge in Ifugao, and the Talubin-Barlig-Nationin-Paracelis road in Mountain Province, he added.
source: philstar.com