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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Typhoon Mina blows toward Japan, death toll now 17
MANILA -- A powerful typhoon that weakened into a tropical storm blew toward southern Japan on Tuesday, leaving at least 17 people dead in the Philippines, officials said.
Twenty-one other people remain missing from tropical storm Mina (international codename: Mitag), as another weather disturbance - tropical depression Lando (international codename: Hagibis) - crossed Mindoro island, south of Manila, disaster relief officials and forecasters said.
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Mina weakened further as it hovered over the northern Babuyan islands with sustained winds of 65 kph (40 mph) and gusts of up to 80 kph (50 mph). It was forecast to be 210 kilometers (130 miles) south of Okinawa, Japan by Wednesday morning.
Fatalities from Mina rose to 17 Tuesday, after three people were reportedly killed in western Palawan province and two men drowned in northern Cagayan province, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported.
Eighteen other people remain missing in Kalinga and nearby Apayao province, including two families with eight members each whose houses were washed out by landslides in Kalinga's Pinukpuk town, said Elvira Calina, OCD's chief in that region. Two men reported missing in a landslide in Kalinga were later found alive, she said.
In northern Cagayan province, a 20-year-old man is missing and may have drowned, OCD said.
A Philippine Air Force jet with two pilots also disappeared while searching for 26 Filipinos whose fishing boat sank last week near the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, the air force said.
Disaster relief officials said nearly 450,000 people were affected by Mina, with more than 200,000 people moved to evacuation centers.
Meanwhile, Lando, which weakened from a tropical storm, blew across the southern half of Mindoro, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Manila around 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) Tuesday, packing winds of up to 55 kph (34 miles), the weather bureau said.
Signal number 1 is hoisted over Palawan including Calamian Group of Islands and Cuyo Islands, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, including Lubang Island, Romblon, Marinduque, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bataan, Bulacan, Quezon including Polilio Island, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay including Burias Island, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Masbate including Ticao Island and Metro Manila, and also in Aklan, Capiz, Antique, Iloilo, and Northern Samar in the Visayas.
Extremely rainy weather can be felt in the next three days. Mina is forecasted to be 140 kms east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes by Wednesday, and 820 kms northeast of Virac, Catanduanes on Thursday, and finally exits to east southeast of Japan by Friday.
Though not directly hitting Metro Manila, the city and nearby provinces in southern Luzon can expect moderate to heavy rains in the next 24 hours, he added.
"Lando" reentered the country on Monday, after it was pulled back by "Mina" in a weather phenomenon known as the "Fujiwara effect," in which a strong storm affects the movement of a relatively weaker one.
Lando killed 13 people in the country last week before heading for Vietnam.
On the other hand the weather bureau has tracked another storm, an active low-pressure area (ALPA), which is seen to enter the Philippine territory in the next 24 hours.
This will be named Nonoy once it reaches the Philippine Area of Responsibility. (AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (November 28, 2007 issue)
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