Saturday, July 30, 2011
JUST like Tropical Storm "Kabayan" (international codename: Muifa), the state weather bureau said Friday that a potential cyclone over a thousand kilometers away from the Philippines will not affect any part of the country.
Nathaniel Servando, Acting Administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the low pressure area, which will be codenamed "Lando" once it develops into a storm, may enter the country next weekend. "Certainly this will not hit land," he told Sun.Star in a text message.
Kabayan, which entered the Philippines last Thursday, took the place of Tropical Storm "Juaning" (international codename: Nock-ten) after lashing out provinces in Luzon earlier this week. It is the eleventh storm to visit the country this year and fifth for July alone.
As of 11 p.m. Friday, Pagasa spotted Kabayan at 790 kilometers northeast of Catarman, Northern Samar, packing maximum winds of 85 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 100 kph.
It was moving north northwest at 15 kph, said Servando.
As it moves northward, Servando said Kabayan will enhance the southwest monsoon that may affect parts of Southern Luzon and Visayas before leaving the Philippines by August 1 (Wednesday).
Estimated rainfall amount is from 15 to 25 millimeters per hour (heavy) within the 600 kilometers diameter of the storm, according to Pagasa.
Juaning leaves P1-billion damage
Meanwhile, the damage caused by Juaning to infrastructure and agriculture already breached the P1-billion mark in the Bicol region alone, on top of the 41 lives it has claimed so far, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMMC) said.
NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos said the partial estimated cost of damage to infrastructure in the worst-hit Albay province was pegged at P967.8 million.
This excludes the P54.04-million damage incurred on national infrastructure in the region, he said.
Ramos said they have also accounted about P110.91 million in damage to the agriculture sector in the Bicol provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes and Masbate.
As of 6 a.m. Friday, Ramos said 28 of the 41 reported deaths are from the Bicol region. Twenty-four others are still missing and are subject to search and rescue operations.
At least 40 were injured and 58 were rescued, the report stated.
Juaning has affected 158,144 families or 790,601 individuals from eight regions of Luzon. Of the number, 17,990 families or 79,099 individuals are housed in evacuation centers.