SUPER typhoon “Nando” exited the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) yesterday, leaving at least five people dead and nearly 25,000 displaced.
A new weather disturbance, tropical depression “Opong,” entered the PAR and was some 1,045 km east of northeastern Mindanao as of 4 p.m. yesterday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
Opong, the country’s 15th tropical cyclone for this year, will continue to intensity and may become a severe tropical storm on Thursday afternoon, and make landfall in Northern Samar by Friday morning, PAGASA said.
Opong, as of 4 p.m. yesterday, was moving west southwestward at 10 kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 70 kph.
PAGASA said Nando exited the PAR at around 8 a.m. yesterday. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, it was some 540 km west of Basco in Batanes, moving west northwestward at 20 kph.
Thirteen areas were still under wind Signal No. 1 based on PAGASA’s 5 p.m. bulletin.
These are Batanes, Cagayan, northern portion of Isabela, Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and the northwestern portion of Pangasinan.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported one death due to Nando, a victim of a landslide in Tuba, Benguet on Monday afternoon. Seven were reported injured in the incident.
The public information office of the Cagayan provincial government reported three deaths — two fishermen who drowned after their boat capsized in Sta. Ana town on Monday and a barangay watchman who was hit by a fallen tree branch in Calayan town also Monday.
Six fishermen remain missing from the sea mishap in Sta. Ana, the provincial government said.
The Philippine Coast Guard reported one death in Agoo, La Union. The body of the 67-year-old victim was retrieved yesterday, a day after he slipped and fell into a river in Barangay Sta Rita Sur.
The Department of Interior and Local Government said 7,922 families (24,788 individuals) were preemptively evacuated or displaced in four regions — Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region.
