5 dead due to Typhoon Egay

FIVE individuals were reported dead, while two were injured due to the onslaught of Typhoon Egay (Doksuri), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Thursday, July 27, 2023.

In a radio interview, NDRRMC spokesperson Director Edgardo Posadas said one of the reported fatalities was from Rizal, while the four others who were hit by a landslide were from Benguet.

“I would like to qualify po that this is still for confirmation and validation kasi kailangan pa po natin ng documentation dito,” he said.

In a situational report, the disaster bureau said 89,639 families or 328,356 persons were affected by the bad weather in which 5,950 families or 19,826 individuals were inside evacuation centers, particularly in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Cordillera, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen and Bangsamoro.

The government has already provided over P10 million worth of assistance to the affected population.

Various areas in La Union, Cagayan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Rizal, Cavite, Mindoro, Palawan, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Antique, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao were hit by flooding due to the heavy rains brought by the weather system.

Several parts of Metro Manila were also flooded due to the continuous overnight rainshowers.

In Marikina, the first alarm was raised as the Marikina River reached 15 meters as of 5:39 a.m. Thursday.

Under the first alarm, residents in low-lying areas are encouraged to prepare for possible evacuation.

Rain-induced landslides were also recorded in Baras, Rizal and in Sebaste, Tabiao, Patnogon, Tobias Fornier in the province of Antique.

Posadas said search, rescue, retrieval and clearing operations are ongoing in the affected areas.

He said they are in constant communication with the local government units and the regional Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in the provinces in northern Luzon that were heavily battered by Egay.

“Sa munisipyo po ng Kalayaan, Babuyan Islands communication wise po hindi pa naka-up ang ano nila (signal) pero meron na pong mga videos na they are okay except for ‘yung strong winds and heavy rains at ang maganda dito dahil maaga tayo nakapag preposition ng mga pagkain at pangangailangan nila before nag hit si Egay at ‘yung OCD nafacilitate nila ang pag provide ng genset (generator set) sa Island Municipality of Kalayaan bago po dumaan si Egay,” he said.

“Even in Fuga Island (where Egay made landfall) hindi nawala ‘yung ating linya ng komunikasyon at kahit ang probinsya ng Batanes continuous po ang ating communication except for a few power outages,” he added.

The NDRRMC said 87 seaports in the Egay-affected areas were non-operational, resulting in the stranding of almost 3,000 passengers, 559 rolling cargoes, 55 vessels and 27 motorbancas.

Several domestic flights were also cancelled due to bad weather, including:

PAL Express
Manila-Basco-Manila (2P 2932/2933)

Manila-Laoag-Manila (2P 2196/2197, 2P 2198/2199)

Cebu Pacific
Manila-Laoag-Manila (5J 404/405)

Cebgo
Manila-Masbate-Manila (DG 6177/6178)

It said 362 houses were reported to have been damaged while 38 were wrecked.

The damage to infrastructure went up to P1.7 million from P1.5 million in the previous days.

Posadas said the local government of Ilocos Norte is finalizing documentation requirements for the declaration of state of calamity in the province.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, July 27, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Typhoon Egay has maintained its strength and is now outside the Philippine area of responsibility.

As of 10 a.m., the center of Egay was spotted at 255 kilometers west of Itbayat, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour (km/h), gusts of up to 185 km/h, and central pressure of 955 hPa.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) Number 2 was hoisted over Batanes, northwestern portion of Cagayan (Claveria, Santa Praxedes) including Babuyan Islands and the northern portion of Ilocos Norte (Pagudpud, Adams, Bangui, Dumalneg, Burgos).

The provinces and areas of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, the rest of Ilocos Norte, the rest of Cagayan, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Abra, Benguet, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, northern portion of Aurora (Casiguran, Dinalungan, Dilasag), northern portion of Nueva Ecija (Cuyapo, Guimba, Pantabangan, Science City of Muñoz, Carranglan, San Jose City, Lupao, Nampicuan, Talugtug), and the northern portion of Tarlac (Paniqui, Moncada, Pura, Camiling, Ramos, San Manuel, Anao, San Clemente) were under TCWS 1.

Egay is now threatening China and may make landfall in the vicinity of Fujian on Friday morning, July 28, said Pagasa.

It added that in the next three days, the Southwest Monsoon (habagat) enhanced by Egay will continue to bring occasional to monsoon rains over the western portions of Central Luzon and Southern Luzon. (SunStar Philippines)