MORE than 86,000 persons in five regions have been affected by incessant rains brought by the southwest monsoon and “Bising” which exited the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) yesterday as a severe tropical storm.
The 86,000 affected individuals reported by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) include close to 5,000 displaced persons.
Bising entered the PAR at 11 p.m. Sunday as a typhoon and exited at 5 a.m. yesterday as a severe tropical storm, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
Bising, while inside PAR on Friday, intensified into a tropical depression from a low pressure area. It exited PAR in the afternoon and further intensified into a tropical storm on storm on Friday night, to a severe tropical storm on Saturday night, and to a typhoon on Sunday morning.
As of 10 a.m. yesterday, Bising was some 605 km north of Itbayat, Batanes. It was moving northward at 35 kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 100 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 125 kph.
“On the forecast track, it will move north northeastward over the next 12 hours before turning northward over the East China Sea by tomorrow (Tuesday) morning,” PAGASA said in a bulletin.
“By tomorrow afternoon, it is forecast to turn generally westward, making landfall over the Eastern China region,” it added.
The DSWD said that as of 6 a.m. yesterday, more than P1.1126 million worth of family food packs and non-food relief items have been provided to the 27,401 families (82,545 persons) affected in the Ilocos and Central Luzon regions and the Cordillera Administrative (CAR), and the 1,230 families or 4,121 persons in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Davao regions.
The DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Management, Information, and Communication also said there were 1,659 families (4,911 persons) displaced in Central Luzon, CAR and Zamboanga Peninsula.
Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said food packs and other forms of assistance have provided to the affected population.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported 27,401 families or 82,548 individuals affected but only in three regions – Ilocos, Central Luzon, and CAR. It also said 1,019 families (3,011 individuals) remain displaced as of yesterday morning.
