Typhoon ‘Hanna’ grows stronger; rains to continue

MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Hanna (international name Lekima) continued to pick up strength Wednesday afternoon.

It now packed maximum sustained winds of 145 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 170 kph, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

Signal No. 1 remained hoisted over Batanes and Babuyan Group of Islands.

The outer rainbands of Hanna will bring light to moderate with at times heavy rains and gusty winds over the areas with storm signals.

Moderate to heavy monsoon rains will continue over the northern portions of Palawan (including Calamian and Cuyo Islands), Occidental Mindoro, Romblon, Zambales, Bataan, Aklan, Antique, Iloilo and Guimaras on Wednesday night.

Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and Western Visayas will have light to moderate rains, Pagasa said.

Hanna, which was last observed last spotted 590 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes, is not likely to make landfall and is expected to be out of the Philippine area of responsibility on Friday afternoon.