MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Storm Dante (international name: Choi-wan) slowed down over the West Philippine Sea on Thursday, after bringing widespread rains across the country earlier this week.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Dante was forecast to exit the northwestern boundary of the Philippine territory between Thursday night and early on Friday.
It will also lose strength and weaken into a tropical depression and eventually into a remnant low on Saturday.
The storm triggered flooding and landslides that killed at least three people in the Visayas and Mindanao.
LPA off Catanduanes
As of Thursday afternoon, all tropical cyclone wind signal warnings had been lifted across the country. But areas in the western part of Luzon, including the Ilocos region and the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, may still experience scattered rains and thunderstorms.
At 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dante’s center was estimated at 255 kilometers west of Sinait town in Ilocos Sur province. It packed winds of up to 65 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 90 kph.
The storm continued to move northwestward at 25 kph.Gale warning remains in effect over the northern and western seaboards of northern Luzon, Pagasa said.
Pagasa is also monitoring a new low pressure area (LPA), last seen 820 km east of Virac town in Catanduanes province.
According to weather specialist Ariel Rojas, there is a low chance that it will become a storm, noting that it is expected to dissipate over the Philippine Sea.
SLIGHT INCREASE Administrators of Angat Dam note a slight increase in the reservoir level due to rains from Tropical Storm “Dante.” —INQUIRER PHOTO
Angat Dam
In Bulacan province, rains dumped by Dante slightly increased the reservoir level of Angat Dam, Metro Manila’s major source of water.
On Thursday morning, the dam’s water leavel was at 192 meters above sea level, which was .05 meter higher than the previous day’s reading but below its spilling level of 212 masl.
The Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said the dam would need rains from at least four storms to substantially increase its level.
The dam’s elevation started to fall below spilling level on Feb. 28. By March 31, its level was recorded at 206.12 masl before receding to 199.51 masl a month later on April 30. The May 31 reservoir reading was 192.32 masl.
In Ilocos Norte province, Marcel Tabije, chief of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office, said they were hoping that the storm would cause little or no damage but still wished for more rain, which “is all we need at this time” in preparation for the planting season.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said the initial damage to national roads and flood-control structures in Central Visayas and Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos) regions was placed at P268.5 million.
The DPWH was clearing three national road sections in Cebu, Eastern Samar and Agusan del Sur provinces on Thursday.