BATANES was placed under Wind Signal No. 1 yesterday as typhoon “Bising” was forecast to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) and exit a few hours later.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), meanwhile, said about 13,000 individuals have been affected by rains brought about by the southwest monsoon and the typhoon.
Bising was some 335 km west northwest of Itbayat, Batanes, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in a bulletin issued at 5 p.m. yesterday.
Bising, moving northeastward at 15 kph, was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kph.
PAGASA said Bising’s potential impact on life and property is “minimal to minor.”
It was expected to enter the PAR last night and exit the northern boundary this morning.
“Bising is forecast to move northeastward over the next 36 hours and may enter the northwestern boundary of PAR tonight (Sunday). It will exit the northern boundary of PAR by tomorrow (Monday) morning,” PAGASA said.
PAGASA said Bising may further intensify within in the next 12 hours but will later weaken while in the East South China Sea “due to unfavorable conditions.”
“It may weaken into a remnant low by Thursday as it interacts with the landmass of China,” said PAGASA.
PAGASA weather specialist Veronica Torres said Bising will bring rains and gusty winds to Batanes, and cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms in the Babuyan Islands.
Bising intensified into a tropical depression, from a low pressure area, on Friday morning while inside the PAR, and exited in the afternoon. It further intensified into a tropical storm on storm on Friday night, to severe tropical storm on Saturday night, and to typhoon yesterday morning.
The NDRRMC, in a report, said the affected 3,773 families or 13,006 individuals are from the Ilocos and Central Luzon regions and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
The NDRRMC said 3,413 families or 12,039 individuals were affected in Central Luzon; 287 families (799 individuals) in Ilocos; and 73 families or 168 individuals from CAR.
Of the total affected population, 1,020 families or 3,018 individuals remain to be displaced. They are either housed in evacuation centers or staying with relatives or friends.
The NDRRMC said 25 areas in Central Luzon remain flooded as of yesterday.
The Office of Civil Defense, the NDRRMC’s implementing arm, said a landslide hit a community in Barangay Virac in Itogon, Benguet last Friday, displacing 13 families.
OCD officer-in-charge Bernardo Rafaelito Bernardo IV, in an interview with the radio dzBB, said a seawall in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur was damaged but did not cause any damage to civilian property.
Alejandro said no one was reported killed or injured due to the southwest monsoon and Bising.
“In general, they have very minor effects,” he added.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said more than 15,000 families or close to 50,000 people from Ilocos, Central Luzon (Region III) and CAR were affected by heavy and continuous rains from the southwest monsoon and Bising.
It said 15 houses were damaged while 1,019 families or 3,011 persons were displaced in Regions III and CAR.
Family food packs and non-food relief items worth nearly P352,000 have been distributed to the affected families.
Social Welfare Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the agency still has over P3.04 billion worth of standby funds (P141.82 million) and family food packs and non-food relief items (P2.9 billion) on standby and ready to be distributed if needed. – With Jocelyn Reyes
