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Monday, October 30, 2006
Typhoon makes landfall as officials brace for worst
MANILA -- One of the strongest typhoons to hit the storm-prone Philippines in years battered the mountainous north late Sunday as the country braced for a possible disaster.
"Let us all pray," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said in a message on nationwide radio as she ordered schools and government offices shut in the affected area and temporarily banned bus trips there to prevent casualties. Two major dams were to release water to prevent them from overflowing, officials said.
Typhoon Paeng (international codename: Cimaron) made landfall around 9 p.m., lashing Isabela province with sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph), the weather bureau said. Hours earlier, the region was placed under the highest of a four-step warning system to advise residents to abandon vulnerable coasts and mountains.
"The wind is really blowing strong. Trees are swaying and I can hear tin roof sheets banging about. Large areas are without light. We're expecting the worst," Armand Araneta, a provincial Office of Civil Defense officer, told The Associated Press by phone from Isabela.
Arroyo, who is visiting China, had joined by telephone an emergency meeting of disaster-response officials on Sunday afternoon and appealed to authorities and residents in the four northern provinces along Typhoon Paeng's path to brace for the worst.
"I appeal to you not to venture out if there is no need for that. Let's follow the order of our officials," Arroyo said.
Office of the Civil Defense Administrator Glen Rabonza said the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) convened in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City at 5 p.m. Sunday to map out contingency plans in anticipation of the typhoon.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said signal number 4 had already been raised over Isabela, Southern Cagayan, Northern Aurora, and Quirino while signal number 3 is up over the rest of the Cagayan and Aurora provinces, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya.
Paeng has continued to strengthen and gain speed with winds of 195 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of 230 kph, the weather bureau said.
At noon Sunday, the weather bureau placed Paeng at 150 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora or 250 kilometers southeast of Tuguegarao, Cagayan. The typhoon was expected to hit northern Isabela province at 8 p.m. Sunday night, it said.
By Monday morning, Paeng is expected to be 90 kilometers northwest of Dagupan City or 100 kilometers west-northwest of Baguio City and on Tuesday, it is forecast to be 430 kilometers west-southwest of Iba, Zambales.
Signal number 2 has also been raised over Calayan Islands, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Benguet, La Union, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Northern Bulacan, Northern Quezon, and Polilio Island; and Signal No. 1 is up over Quezon, Bulacan, Rizal, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Albay, Tarlac, Pampanga, and Zambales.
The typhoon, the 16th to hit the country this year, was last spotted over the Philippine Sea about 120 kilometers southeast of Casiguran town in northern Aurora province and was traveling westward at 19 kph, forecasters said.
Paeng could mess up travel plans and the observance of All Saints' Day on Wednesday, a public holiday when millions troop to cemeteries to remember their dead. Some travel days in advance to provinces to pay homage to their dead.
"We know in our culture that we should visit our dead but this is not an ordinary typhoon, it's a super typhoon," a government official, Graciano Yumul, warned. "People could figure in many accidents if they don't listen," he said.
Duque said their main concern was the safety of residents, "especially since this typhoon would be a lot stronger than Milenyo (international codename: Xangsane)."
The last time a signal number 4 was raised was during the onslaught of super typhoons "Ilyang" and "Loleng" in 1998.
Duque said hospitals and disaster-response contingents, which include army troops and the air force, were placed on stand by for any emergency.
In the threatened province of Albay, 340 kilometers southeast of Manila, a few ferries were barred by the coast guard from leaving Tabaco town due to rough seas, stranding about 1,000 passengers, ABS-CBN TV reported.
About 20 typhoon and tropical storms lash the country each year. Last month, Typhoon Milenyo left 230 people dead and missing as it ripped through Manila and neighboring provinces. (JMR/AP/Sunnex)
(October 30, 2006 issue)
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