‘Lando’ slowly moving toward Taiwan

FOURTEEN provinces in northern Luzon remain under threat from a weakened Tropical Storm “Lando” (international name: Koppu) as it left the Luzon landmass and steadily but slowly moved away from the country toward Taiwan.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) maintained Tuesday Storm Signal No. 2 over the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Abra, Batanes and northern Cagayan, including Calayan and Babuyan islands.

The weather bureau also maintained Signal No. 1 over La Union, Pangasinan, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela provinces and the rest of Cagayan.

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the center of Lando was 90 kilometers west of Calayan.

Pagasa forecaster Chris Perez said all warning signals would likely be lifted by Thursday or Friday when the tropical storm was expected to be 50 km north of Batanes.

Perez, however, added that even if storm signals had been lifted, northern Luzon might still experience rains from the tail end of the storm.

Although its winds have weakened, the storm still carried moderate to heavy to at time intense rains within a wider 650-kilometer diameter.

Since it made landfall on Sunday, Lando inundated and caused landslides in many northern and central Luzon provinces. Baguio City received in 24 hours more rainfall than it usually gets for the entire month in October, according to Pagasa.

From typhoon strength with maximum winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gusts up to 210 kph, Lando progressively weakened since Monday after slamming into the Cordillera mountains then skirting the coastline of the Ilocos provinces west of Luzon.

It exited from the landmass early Tuesday, when it was reduced to a tropical storm with maximum winds of 85 kph (from 95 kph Monday night) and gusts up to 100 kph (from 120 kph).

Still, at least 12 flights, mostly bound for northern Luzon destinations, were canceled on Tuesday.

Lando unexpectedly grew fiercer on Monday night, unleashing winds and rain which triggered landslides that killed 11 people, including four children, in Baguio City and in neighboring La Trinidad in Benguet province.

Earlier, the typhoon killed five people in upland Cordillera, including Ryan Tiglay, a farmer, whose body was recovered on Monday after he was reported missing while checking his fish pen near Tineg River in Abra.

The slow-moving Lando also killed nine people in Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley, seven in Pangasinan and three in Isabela, raising the death count as collated by the Inquirer to 35 as of Tuesday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has so far validated 18 deaths. The council said 16 were injured and one was missing.

A total of 23,867 families, or 107,719 people, were still staying inside evacuation centers as of Tuesday.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development and local authorities have so far distributed P8,128,965 worth of assistance and relief goods to typhoon victims.

Given the relatively low casualty figures, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said the Philippine government’s preparedness program “had paid off.”

“The communication of early warnings in the Philippines has improved significantly since Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Supertyphoon “Yolanda”) claimed over 6,000 lives in November 2013,” said UNISDR chief Margareta Wahlström.

“President Benigno Aquino’s broadcast to the nation on Friday evening was especially important in alerting the population to the threat,” she added.

Damage to farms

The Department of Agriculture placed damage to farms at P5.9 billion, more than half of which was accounted for by Nueva Ecija. The amount did not include damage to fisheries and to farm equipment and infrastructure.

Because of floods and landslides, 88 roads and 25 bridges were rendered unpassable to all types of vehicles all over Luzon, according to the NDRRMC.

The storm also damaged 4,647 houses and destroyed 272 dwellings so far in northern and central Luzon.

Caught by surprise

Lando caught people in Baguio by surprise because the weather had a lull after strong rains on Sunday and Monday morning.

Resident Lyn Madalang spent Monday night at her office building when taxicabs stopped plying their routes and saw winds tear up a section of downtown Baguio. “I saw a tree break off because of the wind. I saw signboards being shredded. It was very strong,” she said.

In Burnham Park, work crews and volunteers had to clear 40 trees that toppled due to the strong winds.

Bad weather prevented NDRRMC officials from flying to Aurora last weekend.

Undersecretary Alexander Pama of the NDRRMC said the pilot of the C-130 plane, which was supposed to bring officials to the devastated province, decided not to push through with the flight.

“The takeoff was aborted because of reports of bad weather in Casiguran and Baler in Aurora. The wind was strong and unpredictable. The officials were decided on visiting there but the pilot made a judgment call,” Pama said on Tuesday.