Typhoon ‘Paeng’ intensifies, threatens N. Luzon
Forced evacuation in CAR’s landslide-prone areas vowed
Typhoon “Paeng” (international name “Trami”) intensified before entering the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) yesterday afternoon, threatening to affect areas earlier hit by cyclone “Ompong.”
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) estimated the location of Paeng at 1,315 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan on Sunday afternoon.
Paeng is the second cyclone to enter the country this month. Ompong (Mangkhut), the first
typhoon this month, left a trail of destruction across Northern Luzon, leaving dozens dead and billions worth of damage in agriculture and infrastructure.
This time, Trami is threatening to move towards typhoon-battered Northern Luzon area, particularly Batanes or Babuyan Islands by weekend.
Paeng has rapidly intensified into a typhoon, hours before it entered the PAR on Sunday.
From a severe tropical storm early Sunday, Trami rapidly intensified into a typhoon around noon, packing maximum sustained winds of 125 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 155 kph. It is forecast to move west at 20 kph.
So far, it has no significant enhancement of the southwest monsoon early this week but may induce monsoon rains by mid-week when the typhoon moves closer to the country.
Earlier, PAGASA said Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Cagayan Valley will be rainy with gusty winds starting Wednesday. The typhoon may directly affect the extreme Northern Luzon, particularly Batanes and Babuyan Islands on Sept. 28.
Forced evacuation vowed Another typhoon is on course to hitting northern Luzon, particularly the landslide areas where scores have died or are still missing in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) following the onslaught of typhoon “Ompong.”
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) recommended as early as Saturday the forced evacuation of people in landslideprone areas including “ground zero” of the deadly landslide in Itogon, Benguet.
The Assessment Team of the MGB Central Office, headed by Supervising Science Research Specialist Liza Soccoro Manzano, informed Secretary Francis N. Tolentino – assigned by President Duterte to oversee government’s disaster risk reduction management operations in northern Luzon – of the need to evacuate before rains from Paeng begin to set in.
“With the typhoon Paeng expected to be felt in the locality, there should be no person at the area, to prevent a repeat of the unfateful incident which led to deaths,” Manzano said.
For his part, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Regional Director Ruben Carandang vowed to implement the force evacuation on geohazard and landslide prone areas in Itogon and the whole region. “We are still on red alert. We are ready 100 percent ready to implement our contingency plans.”