By Sheldeen Joy Talavera
TROPICAL cyclone Khanun, locally named Falcon, strengthened into a severe tropical storm on Sunday, according to the Philippine weather bureau.
It was unlikely to make landfall in the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
In an 11 a.m. bulletin, the agency said Falcon had enhanced the southwest monsoon, which would bring monsoon rains over the western portion of Luzon and the Visayas in the next three days.
Falcon, the sixth cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, was last spotted 1,180 kilometers east of Northern Luzon. It had maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of 115 kph. It was moving north westward at 15 kph.
“From now until its exit from the Philippine Area of Responsibility, the center of the typhoon is not likely to make landfall in our country,” PAGASA weather specialist Aldczar D. Aurelio told a news briefing on Sunday morning.
Raising storm signals was also unlikely even if the country might still experience gusty conditions due to the enhanced southwest monsoon, he said.
Gale warning was in effect in Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, Metro Manila, Cavite, the western coast of Batangas, Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Island, the northern coast of Palawan including Calamian, Cuyo, and Kalayaan Islands.
Based on the latest track from PAGASA, Falcon was projected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility on Monday evening or early Tuesday morning.
“Falcon is forecast to steadily intensify within the next three days,” the agency said. “It is forecast to become a typhoon late evening today (Sunday) or tomorrow early morning and reach its peak intensity on Tuesday,” it added.
Meanwhile, agricultural damage from Super Typhoon Doksuri, locally named Egay, had hit P1.5 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in an 8 a.m. bulletin on Sunday.
About 1.03 million people from 291,262 families were affected by the typhoon, it said, adding that 330 evacuation centers had been opened to house 30,159 people.
At least 16 people were reported to have died after Egay battered the main Philippine island of Luzon.
The disaster agency said it was validating information on 13 people who were reportedly hurt and 20 others who went missing.
Infrastructure damage was estimated at P4.39 billion, plus P9.98 million in other damaged assets. The typhoon affected 105,774 farmers and fisherfolk and 118,108.24 hectares of crops.
Affected commodities included rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock and poultry, and fisheries, the Agriculture department said in a separate report. Farm facilities and fishing paraphernalia were also damaged.
The Philippines lies along the typhoon belt in the Pacific and experiences about 20 storms each year. It also lies in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes strike.
The Philippines constantly experiences unavoidable losses and damage equivalent to 0.5% of its annual economic output mainly due to an increasingly unpredictable climate, according to the Finance department.
Also on Sunday, the European Union (EU) said it has donated €500,000 (P30 million) in humanitarian funding to the Philippines to support Filipino families affected by Typhoon Doksuri.
“The funding will provide life-saving assistance, including emergency shelter and shelter repair, clean water and sanitation to those most affected by the disaster,” it said in a statement.
It said assistance would be given in the most affected areas of Luzon particularly the Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Region and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
The EU has provided more than €158 million in humanitarian aid and disaster preparedness funding in the Philippines since 1996. — with KATA
