Sunday, November 12, 2006
Typhoon weakens, to exit RP on Monday
MANILA -- Typhoon Queenie (international name: Chebi) weakened as it sliced through the center of the Philippines' main island of Luzon on Saturday, causing floods, toppling trees and power lines and damaging crops, officials said.
The typhoon slammed into the northeastern province of Aurora early Saturday with maximum winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph).
The Manila weather bureau said the typhoon lost some of its energy after hitting the Sierra Madre mountain range on Luzon's eastern flanks.
With winds down to 140 kph (88 mph) and gusts of 170 kph (106 mph), it blew westward from Aurora to Pangasinan, passing over the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac.
Typhoon Queenie is expected to exit Pangasinan early Saturday night and forecast to be at 310 kms West Northwest of Iba, Zambales by Sunday afternoon and to be at 610 kms West Northwest of Iba, Zambales by Monday afternoon.
Nery Amparo, chief of the Office of Civil Affairs in the central Luzon region, said strong winds toppled trees and electric towers, knocking out power and blocking roads in Aurora, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of Manila.
In the Poblacion, Dinapigue, Isabela 300 persons were evacuated to safer grounds.
At least four villages in the hardest-hit town of Casiguran were flooded (about 2 feet deep) and a total of 1,380 families or 8,280 persons from 14 barangays in Pag-asa, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija were affected and displaced due to flooding and are currently staying at Pag-asa Evacuation Center.
Two people were injured when a coconut tree fell on a house also in Casiguran, and strong winds destroyed two houses and damaged a dozen others, she added.
Several villages in San Jose town in the rice-growing province of Nueva Ecija were under 1.2 meters (4 feet) of floodwater, submerging farms and ready-to-harvest rice crops, Amparo said.
She said she expects the floodwaters to subside quickly, but warned that the rice crop would be permanently damaged if it remains submerged for two days. She gave no other details.
The typhoon hampered communications between the regional disaster center and its provincial units, particularly in Aurora where information were relayed mostly by radio and cellular phone text messages, Amparo said.
Officials had earlier warned residents in the path of typhoon to be on alert for flash floods and landslides.
Many of the areas had suffered damage last week when Typhoon Paeng (international name: Cimaron) slammed the same region, leaving 19 people dead in flash flood and landslides. It came on the heels of Typhoon Xangsane, which left 230 people dead and missing in and around Manila in late September.
About 20 typhoons and tropical storms lash the country each year. Chebi, the Korean word for the swallow bird, is the 17th this season. (AP/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (November 12, 2006 issue)
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