Catanduanes: ‘Chedeng’ more bark than bite

VIRAC, Catanduanes – In the “Land of the Howling Winds,” Chedeng’s bark was worse than its bite as it brought only moderate rain and slight winds over Catanduanes that lasted for about 16 hours between Saturday to early Easter Sunday.

Even the storm surge, forecast to be as high as two meters when Chedeng was still a typhoon (international name Maysak), tossed only some sand and boulders as large as a man’s head onto the boulevard along this capital town’s coast.

READ: Typhoon ‘Chedeng’ dissipates as Philippines celebrates Easter 

No major flooding or landslides were reported to authorities.

District Engineer Romeo Doloiras told the Inquirer that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Catanduanes Engineering District received no report of any damage to national roads and bridges.

For the population, majority of whom are devout Catholics, the only inconvenience brought by Chedeng was that it prevented many churches around the island from decorating the “aleluyahan” (elevated platforms) from which the chosen “angel” would be lowered to lift the veil from the image of Mary during the “encuentro” with the Risen Christ at dawn of Easter Sunday.

Catanduanes was placed under storm signal number two until early Sunday when all storm signals were downgraded as Chedeng continued to weaken and re-categorized as a tropical depression.

At 4 a.m. today, Chedeng was estimated at 95 kilometers east southeast of Casiguran, Aurora, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center. It is forecast to remain almost stationary, according to the 5 a.m. bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Only the provinces of Aurora, Isabela, Quirino and Polillo Island in Quezon province remained under storm signal number one.