Storm ‘Talim’ seen to skim Philippines

MTSAT ENHANCED IR Satellite Image for 11:32 p.m., 19 June 2012. pagasa.dost.gov.ph/

A tropical storm swirling from the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) is expected to skim the northernmost part of the country Wednesday or Thursday, inducing monsoon rains over Luzon, according to the state-run weather agency.

“There’s no sign it would make landfall,” Julie Mimes, a forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said by phone on Tuesday.

But the agency advised residents living in low-lying areas and on mountain slopes to watch out for flash floods and landslides.

The storm (international code-name: Talim) would be the third storm to enter the Philippines this year. Both “Ambo” and “Butchoy,” which formed in the Pacific Ocean, did not hit land.

Talim will enhance the southwest monsoon once it passes by Babuyan Island in Batanes province to bring rains over northern and central Luzon, Mimes said.

The storm will be renamed “Carina” once it hits Philippine waters.

President Benigno Aquino’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, said concerned department agencies had already started to make preparations for the storm’s possible onslaught in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Relief funds

The Department of Social Welfare and Development has put up stand-by funds and relief stockpiles worth almost P10 million for the three regions, Valte said.

Cagayan Valley has the biggest allocation with P5.6 million, while Ilocos and the CAR were allotted P2.4 million and P1.38 million, respectively.

Valte told reporters that the Department of Health had also set aside medicines and medical supplies amounting to P400,000 for Ilocos and Cagayan Valley.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has also activated its quick response team and has heavy equipment for clearing operations on standby and ready for mobilization in landslide-prone areas, she said.

Also on standby were the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard and  Armed Forces of the Philippines, which, Valte said, were all “ready for mobilization, for evacuation and search and rescue operations.”

On Tuesday morning, the storm, which formed near southern China, was spotted by Pagasa at less than 600 kilometers west of Luzon, packing maximum winds of 75 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 110 kph. It was moving east-northeast at 15 kph.

‘Butchoy’

Landslides caused by rains brought by Butchoy rendered four roads impassable in the CAR Tuesday morning, the DPWH said in a statement.

These included Kennon Road in Benguet, the Abra-Kalinga Road in Abra, the Kalinga-Abra Road in Kalinga, and the Mt. Province-Ilocos Sur Road via Tue-Calabacan Section in Mountain Province.

The DPWH regional office has deployed emergency crew and equipment to conduct clearing and emergency repair work, the statement said.

“Based on our model, there’s no sign yet that Talim would intensify into a typhoon,” Mimes said, pointing out that the cyclone maintained its strength from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Pagasa said Talim would traverse the waters between Batanes and Taiwan. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and Philip C. Tubeza