AFTER hitting the Eastern Visayas region and most of Luzon where it made six landfalls, “Ambo” on Sunday weakened from a typhoon to a tropical depression to a low pressure area (LPA) as it headed out the Philippine area of responsibility.
All storm signals have been lifted. The LPA is expected to be out of the country late Monday or early Tuesday.
As of 4 p.m.on Sunday, the LPA was some 125 km northwest of Basco, Batanes which will have light to moderate to at times heavy rains, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration,
While still a typhoon last Friday and Saturday, Ambo prompted the raising of storm signal warnings in nine regions — Metro Manila (National Capital Region), Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos (Region 1), Cagayan Valley (Region 2), Central Luzon (Region 3), Calabarzon (Region 4A), Mimaropa (Region 4B), Bicol (Region 5), and Eastern Visayas (Region 8).
Ambo made its first landfall in San Policarpo in Northern Samar on Thursday afternoon. It made five other landfalls in the province, and in Masbate and in Quezon.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesman Mark Timbal said the agency has not officially recorded any casualty.
“What’s happening now is verification. The information that we are receiving is only anecdotal, so we are waiting for the confirmation from the local government units and other agencies,” said Timbal.
Police and reports from the Office of Civil Defense showed two people died, a man who was electrocuted in Sta. Elena, Camarines Norte on Thursday and a woman who was pinned down by a wall that collapsed in Catanauan town in Quezon on Friday.
Timbal said 40,980 people were affected by Ambo, specifically in Eastern Visayas and the Calabarzon.
The OCD Bicol Region said at least 62,000 persons were affected in the region.
The Department of Agriculture said initial damage to agriculture was placed at P187.43 million, particularly in rice, corn, and other crops and livestock in the Calabarzon, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas regions.
The DA also said due to its early typhoon advisory, farmers harvested and saved P7 billion worth of rice and P2.2 billion in corn.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the typhoon damaged P1.64 million worth in the fishery sector. — With Jed Macapagal
