Haikui intensifies, to bring more rains in western parts of Luzon
TYPHOON Haikui, locally named Hanna, intensified on Sunday morning and was expected to continue enhancing the southwest monsoon, bringing more rains in the western parts of the main Philippine island of Luzon, according to the state weather bureau.
As of 4 p.m., the center of the typhoon was spotted 240 kilometers north-northwest of Itbayat, Batanes province packing sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 190 kph.
It was moving west-northwestward at 20kph.
Haikui was expected to leave the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday night or early Monday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
Super Typhoon Saola (locally named Goring) earlier passed the northern Philippines and swept across southern China.
At least two people died from the combined effects of the typhoons, the local disaster agency said.
One person was hurt, and another went missing after the typhoons brought monsoon rains in Luzon and the Visayas, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said in a report.
The typhoons affected more than 400,000 people including 21,000 who took shelter in evacuation centers, council spokesman Edgar Posadas told the ABS-CBN News Channel.
The typhoons damaged more than 500 houses and caused P130 million worth of infrastructure damage, the council said.
The government had P2.2 billion in standby funds for typhoon victims, Mr. Posadas said.
PAGASA cited possible flooding or landslides due to moderate to heavy rains from Haikui in Batanes and Babuyan Islands.
It added that there could be flooding or landslides due to moderate or heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon in the Ilocos Region, Abra, Benguet, Zambales, Bataan and Occidental Mindoro.
The southwest monsoon could also bring moderate to heavy rains in Metro Manila, Apayao, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Batangas, the rest of Luzon and Western Visayas.
The rest of the country could experience cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.
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 country 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.
Previous typhoons this year severely affected the country’s food production, with Super Typhoon Doksuri and a southwest monsoon causing P1.94 billion worth of agriculture damage. The rice sector accounted for P950 million of the total. — Norman P. Aquino
