Falcon displaces over 300,000 people

Sunday, June 26, 2011

MANILA -- Tropical Storm Falcon (international name: Meari) has left the country but rains dumped by the storm has affected more than 300,000 people in 27 towns and 14 cities across four regions.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that Falcon left 15 people missing, mostly fishermen from Catanduanes who ventured into the sea amid rough seas days earlier.

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One of the 10 missing fishermen from Catanduanes province was rescued about 120 kilometers to the south in rough waters churned by Falcon, the sixth storm to hit the country this year, said civil defense administrator Benito Ramos.

Three other missing fishermen from Camarines Norte and three other people who were separately swept away by floodwaters have not yet been found, Ramos said.

The civil defense office reported 330,000 people in Metro Manila and seven provinces were affected by the storm and the ensuing floods, which forced more than 75,000 people to flee to emergency evacuation centers, including schools.

The NDRRMC said a tornado damaged 15 houses, two taxi cabs and one Mazda sedan, caused the fence in the Kamuning Police Station to collapse, and uprooted trees and electric posts.

Around 69,000 families representing nearly 330,000 people in 27 towns and 14 cities across four regions were sidelined by Falcon.

Of this number, 15,621 families or 75,150 people are still staying in 77 evacuation centers. Initial cost of damage was pegged at P5.2 million in Central Luzon alone.

Some roads in the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon, Pasay and Las Pinas, as well as in Bulacan and Southern Tagalog have remained impassable to light and heavy vehicles due to flooding.

In its final bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) located Falcon’s center some 590 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes as of 4 a.m.

The storm packed maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometers per hour (kph) near the eye and gustiness of up to 135 kph. It is moving northwest at 24 kph.

Meteorological agencies in Japan, United States and Taiwan are in unison that Falcon, which left the Philippines on Saturday morning, will further intensify as it prepares for landfall in China-South Korea border early next week.

Graciano Yumul, Science and Technology undersecretary, said up to 15 more storms could affect the country this year.

The upcoming storms are expected to be more intense — with heavier rain and stronger winds — than the 11 that hit the country last year, Yumul said.

He said 7.4 inches (188 millimeters) of rain, or nearly three inches (76 mm) more than the "normal definition of heavy rain," fell on the capital during a 24-hour period Thursday, two days after Meari entered the country as a tropical depression.

Yumul said cloudy skies and occasional rains will still be felt by those living in Northern and Central Luzon and the National Capital Region due to southwest monsoon.

If there is any improvement, Yumul said clear skies and sunny weather may only be felt by Thursday next week.

No tropical cyclone is expected to develop next week but a low pressure area may enter the Philippines during that period, Pagasa said.

Meanwhile, the weather bureau warned residents along the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mt. Province, Ilocos Sur, Abra and Ilocos Norte to be on guard against possible flashfloods and landslides.

Fishermen along the coastal areas of Luzon are also advised not to venture out into the sea due to big waves generated by monsoon surge associated with Falcon.

Deep floods triggered by Falcon’s heavy rains made it to the Philippines’ trending list of popular social networking site Twitter, with topics #prayforthephilippines, #falcon and #Marikina River notching third, fourth and eighth places, respectively on Saturday.

Yumul said the rains brought by Falcon was way inferior to the ones brought by Tropical Storm Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) in September 2009 that left hundreds of people dead.

Four suspended flights

Still, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) experienced cancellations and delays due to inclement weather in Manila on Saturday.

The morning flight to Puerto Princesa and the afternoon flight to Nagoya, Japan, were cancelled, with passengers to be accommodated on the next flight.

PAL said Puerto Princesa passengers were flown on the afternoon flight, while a replacement flight for Nagoya has been set up for Sunday.

Some of the delayed flights include those bound for Bangkok, Xiamen, Cebu, Incheon and Osaka.

The return flight from Osaka is experiencing a long delay as a result of last Friday’s delayed departure from Manila.

To cope with the series of flight disruptions, PAL said it has been substituting some of the assigned aircraft with bigger types to accommodate passengers of cancelled flights.

For its part, low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific cancelled two morning flights going to Caticlan after the airport there was closed for President Benigno Aquino III’s visit.

The President led the ceremonial lighting of the airport’s scale model in the area. The gateway to world-famous resort Boracay is expected to accommodate 1.5 million passengers a year once completed. (With AP/Sunnex)