Waning Ruby makes 4th landfall; 21 dead

MANILA, Philippines – A waning Tropical Storm Ruby made its fourth landfall in Laiya, Batangas at 5:45 p.m. Monday after it earlier left at least 21 people dead and forced more than a million people into shelters in many parts of Bicol and the Visayas regions.

While the worst was over in Eastern and Central Visayas regions where the sun peeked Monday after days of grim weather, Manila and outlying provinces braced as Ruby blew nearer with maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometer per hour and gusts of 100 kph.

Although it has weakened to 85 kph, Ruby still dumped rains in Batangas and nearby provinces while heading toward west northwest. Although considerably weaker from its peak power, the storm remains potentially dangerous and could still whip storm surges that could overwhelm coastal villages, weather forecasters said.

Other related developments:

• Over 1, 000 families from the Baseco compound in Tondo, Manila have been evacuated in anticipation of the storm.

• As of 6:10 p.m. more schools and local governments announced suspension of classes and work for Tuesday. These are:

METRO MANILA

All levels

• CALOOCAN CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• LAS PIÑAS CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• MAKATI CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• MALABON CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• MANDALUYONG CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• MANILA (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• MARIKINA CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• MUNTINLUPA CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• NAVOTAS CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• PARAÑAQUE CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• PASAY CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• PASIG CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• PATEROS (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• QUEZON CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• SAN JUAN CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• TAGUIG CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)
• VALENZUELA CITY (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE)

PROVINCES

All levels

• BATANGAS
• CAVITE
• LAGUNA
• QUEZON
• RIZAL
• BULACAN (PULILAN, BOCAUE, CALUMPIT, SAN JOSE DEL MONTE, MEYCAUAYAN, STA. MARIA, HAGONOY AND MALOLOS)

NOTE: No work at UP MANILA and Ateneo Loyola heights campus

• The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council warned of possible floods in the National Capital Region, especially in its eastern portion and in the Rizal province, due to the expected heavy to intense rains to be brought by Ruby on Monday night.

• The military has started to mobilize its assets and personnel for rehabilitation and relief efforts in areas worst hit by Ruby.

–     The Philippine Airlines on Monday said it would begin normal operations by noon of Dec. 9 when Ruby is expected to exit Manila.

Officials have expressed relief that the typhoon had not caused major damage.

Traumatized by the death and destruction from Typhoon Yolanda last year, more than 1 million people fled to emergency shelters and safer ground. Many have started to troop back home after the typhoon had blown past their provinces, Philippine Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said.

“The worst is over for them. It’s a big relief because they really got scared of this typhoon with Yolanda in their minds,” Pang said.

The strongest typhoon on record to hit land, Yolanda’s tsunami-like storm surges, leveled entire villages and left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in November last year.

Ruby left at least 21 people dead, including 16 villagers who drowned in Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon made its first landfall, according to the Philippine Red Cross. The government disaster-response agency has reported only five deaths, including three people who died of hypothermia, saying it was still verifying other reported casualties.

Displaced villagers have been asked to return home from emergency shelters in provinces where the danger posed by the typhoon had waned, including Albay province, where more than half a million people were advised to leave evacuation sites.

Nearly 12,000 villagers, however, will remain in government shelters in Albay because their homes lie near a restive volcano. With reports from Associated Press, Frances Mangosing, Maila Ager, Tetch Torres