MANILA, Philippines–Typhoon “Labuyo” has intensified and continued to move closer to southern Isabela-northern Aurora Area, the state weather bureau said Sunday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) raised storm warning signal no. 3 in the following areas:
Cagayan
Isabela
Aurora
Pollillo Island
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Vizcaya
Benguet
Quirino
Abra
Ifugao
Mt. Province
Kalinga
Apayao
Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Sur
La Union
Pangasinan
“[Labuyo is the] strongest storm to make landfall so far this year,” bureau head Vicente Malano told reporters.
At 10:00 p.m. Sunday, the center of “Labuyo” was located at 110 kilometers southeast of Casiguran, Aurora (15.6°N, 123.1°E), according to Pagasa.
The typhoon is expected to make landfall in the north-eastern agricultural province of Aurora early morning on Monday, Pagasa said, adding that heavy rains are likely to cover a larger area including the capital Manila.
Due to the typhoon signal in the National Capital Region, workers rolled down huge tarpaulins from outdoor advertising billboards along Edsa and major Metro Manila streets as a safety precaution.
Meanwhile, storm signal no. 2 was raised in the following areas:
Northern Quezon
Rizal
Bulacan
Pampanga
Tarlac
Zambales
Calayan
Babuyan Group of Islands
Signal no. 1 was raised in Batanes, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, rest of Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes and Metro Manila.
“Labuyo,” moving west-northwest at 19 kilometers per hour, was forecast to dump up to 25 millimeters of rain an hour within a 600-kilometre diameter of the typhoon, Pagasa said.
By Monday evening, the typhoon is forecast 100 km southwest of Laoag City and by
Tuesday evening, 470 km northwest of Laoag City or outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 storms and typhoons each year, some of them devastating.
Nearly 2,000 were killed or went missing in flash floods and landslides when Typhoon “Pablo” cut across the southern island of Mindanao in December last year.
About 850,000 people were also displaced, and many of them remain in temporary shelters months after the typhoon.
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