TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines—More than 200 people in Cagayan were evacuated on Monday as Severe Tropical Storm “Ramon” (international name: Kalmaegi) barreled toward land, and was expected to hit the northern part of the province during the night or early morning.
Rogelio Sending Jr., Cagayan provincial information officer, said most of the evacuees were residents of flood- and landslide-prone areas in the towns of Santa Praxedes, Gattaran, Calayan and Dalupiri Island.
Storm warnings
Ramon intensified into a severe tropical storm on Monday, threatening several provinces in northern Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
As of Monday afternoon, tropical cyclone signal No. 2 was up in Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands; Apayao; Kalinga; and the northern portion of Isabela province, including the towns of Santa Maria, San Pablo, Maconacon, Cabagan, Santo Tomas, Quezon, Delfin Albano, Tumauini and Divilacan.
The northern portion of Ilocos Norte province, including the towns of Pagudpud, Burgos, Bangui, Dumalneg and Adams, were also under signal No. 2.
Signal No. 1 had been raised in a number of provinces in northern Luzon, including Batanes, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, La Union, northern Aurora, particularly Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan towns, and the rest of Isabela.
As of 4 p.m. on Monday, Ramon’s center was 125 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan, packing maximum winds of 100 km per hour and gustiness of up to 125 kph.
It was moving north-northwest at 10 kph and was expected to make landfall in northern Cagayan between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
The Cagayan provincial government called off school at all levels in both public and private sectors, and imposed a ban on the sale of liquor.
Schools were also shuttered at all levels on Monday in the towns of Conner, Pudtol and Calanasan in Apayao province and at all levels in the City of Ilagan in Isabela.
Michael Conag, a staff member at the Office of Civil Defense in Cagayan Valley, said the Ilagan-Divilacan road in Isabela was closed to traffic due to threats of landslides.
San Roque dam full
In Pangasinan province, the water at San Roque Dam in San Manuel town reached the spilling level of 280 meters above sea level (masl) on Monday.
But Tom Valdez, San Roque Power Corp. vice president for corporate responsibility, said the spillway gates would not be opened soon as Ramon was not expected to dump heavy rain in the area.
He said in a phone interview that the National Power Corp. and Pagasa would monitor the rainfall and his company would comply if the two agencies would order water to be released from the dam.
San Roque Dam’s carrying capacity is up to 290 masl, he said.
In 2009, however, the spillway gates were opened before the water level reached 290 masl, inundating 36 towns and cities in the province.
Pagasa weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio said light to moderate rain occasionally turning heavy could be expected on Tuesday in northern Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Batanes, Apayao and the northern portion of Ilocos Norte.
Low-pressure zone
Pagasa was also monitoring a low-pressure zone outside the Philippine area of responsibility.
As of 2 p.m. on Monday, it was 1,320 km east of the Visayas, posing no threat to any part of the country.