KEEPING TRACK A state weather bureau forecaster briefs reporters on the track of Typhoon “Betty” on Monday morning. —DOST-PAGASA PHOTO
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Philippines — Classes and work in government and private offices in many parts of the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions remained suspended on Monday as Typhoon Betty (international name: Mawar) dumped heavy rains and brought strong winds in areas along its path.
Local disaster risk reduction management offices (DRRMO) affected by the typhoon have yet to assess the damage in their localities but about 2,859 families, or 11,264 people, from 55 villages in the entire Cagayan Valley region were affected by the typhoon, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
More than 5,000 residents in the Cagayan Valley region were preemptively evacuated, while close to 4,000 individuals were displaced, the NDRRMC said in its report on Tuesday.
In Santa Ana town in Cagayan province, an old warehouse at Port Irene collapsed on Monday afternoon due to the strong winds that slammed into the province’s coastlines as Betty continued to enhance the southwest monsoon, or “habagat.”
Dead whale
The paper milling warehouse owned by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) crashed around 2 p.m., leaving an estimated damage of P10 million, but no one was injured since the warehouse had long been abandoned, said Marion Miranda, Santa Ana’s DRRMO head.
Still in Santa Ana, a dead whale was found near its shores on Monday but strong waves spawned by the typhoon hampered its retrieval, said municipal agriculturist Richard Alibania.
Classes in Cagayan’s towns of Calayan, Gonzaga, Camalaniugan, Gattaran, Claveria, Amulung, and Pamplona were suspended and could resume on Tuesday, as the typhoon was already starting to weaken while heading to the sea over Batanes province, said Gov. Manuel Mamba.
Betty was expected to weaken over the next five days and may exit the Philippine area of responsibility by late Thursday or early Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.