Goring pummels Cagayan Valley, nearby provinces

Weather satellite image from Pagasa’s website

TUGUEGARAO CITY—Expect heavy rains and possible flooding in the provinces of Cagayan, Batanes and nearby areas as Typhoon “Goring” (international name: Saola) continues to intensify, the weather bureau said on Saturday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in its 5 p.m. update reported Goring was last spotted 145 kilometers east northeast of Tuguegarao City moving in a southward direction at 10 kilometers per hour.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 3 was hoisted over the northeastern portion of Cagayan (Santa Ana town) and extreme eastern portion of Isabela province, including the towns of Divilacan and Palanan.

Signal No. 2 was raised at the eastern portion of Isabela, eastern portion of Cagayan and northern portion of Aurora province.

“Goring currently has maximum sustained winds of 155 km per hour and gustiness of up to 190 kph,” said Pagasa weather specialist Veronica Torres.

Prepositioned goods

Goring is forecast to “steadily intensify” and may even reach the supertyphoon category on Monday.

The Cagayan Valley Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CVRDRRMC) on Saturday has heightened its preparation and placed disaster response offices under “red alert” status.

Civil Defense-Cagayan Valley regional director Leon DG Rafael Jr., as early as Friday night issued a memorandum order No. 86 that ordered local disaster offices to impose the “no sailing, fishing and swimming” policy under the red alert status.

Prepositioning of stockpiles of relief goods have been done even in barangays in Cagayan and Batanes as “Goring” starts to pummel the provinces, Cagayan provincial disaster risk reduction management officer Ruelie Rapsing said in an online news briefing on Saturday.

Pre-disaster risk assessment meetings were also held in the towns and cities affected as residents have also started packing their belongings while others brought their animals and goods to higher grounds.

“We start to bring our goods upstairs as a precaution against would-be floods,” Fe Pasion, a resident in Ilagan City, Isabela, said in an interview Saturday.

Low chance

Pagasa is also monitoring a low pressure area (LPA) outside the Philippine area of responsibility.

Torres said the LPA was spotted 2,140 km east of Central Luzon as of 4 p.m. on Saturday.

She, however, said it has low chance of becoming a storm.