Tropical storm veering away; thousands displaced in 3 regions
Heavy rains brought about by Tropical Storm “Pepito” submerged 20 barangays in Masantol and Macabebe towns in Pampanga, while floods were also noted on Maharlika Highway in Lopez, Quezon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Wednesday.
Lopez town mayor Rachel Ubana said the portion of Maharlika Highway, covering the stretch in Barangays Canda Ibaba and Ilaya, remained flooded as of noon Wednesday.
The Talolong River also overflowed, causing floods in Barangay Poblacion.
Aside from causing massive flooding, NDRRMC spokesman Mark Timbal said Pepito also displaced more than 5,000 individuals who were forced to leave their homes in at least three regions.
Timbal said no casualty nor major incident has been reported so far although 253 persons were brought to 13 evacuation centers in Central Luzon (Region 3) after fleeing from their homes at the height of the typhoon's onslaught.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that Pepito was already veering away from the country after making landfall in San Ildefonso peninsula in Casiguran, Aurora, around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the tropical storm was 210 kilometers (km) west of Dagupan City in Pangasinan and will be outside the Philippine area of responsibility by Thursday Assistant Secretary Casiano Monilla, deputy administrator for operations of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said at a Laging Handa public briefing that a total of 342 families in Cagayan, Isabela, and Quirino provinces were affected by the typhoon in Cagayan Valley (Region 2).
Earlier, a total of 181 families or 645 persons were pre-emptively evacuated in the region.
In Calabarzon (Region 4A that covers Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Casiano said 4,790 families were affected by the calamity. Initial information from the Aurora Provincial DRRM office (PDRRMO) showed up to 174 families or 717 individuals were affected by the typhoon in the area.
“Medyo maaliwalas na po ngayon. Sa parteng Casiguran ay okay na po at sa parteng Dilasag. Ang nangyari lang po ay 'yong mga kailugan ay natural lang na tumaas (the weather seems to be fair now. In Casiguran and Dilasag, already okay. The water in the rivers slightly rose but it's just natural),” said Engr. Elson Egargue, head of Aurora PDRRMO, in a radio interview over dzMM.
Agriculture, infrastructure affected
The NDRRMC has yet to release the initial cost of damage by Pepito in the agriculture and infrastructure but Ubana estimated that at least 326 hectares of rice, seven hectares of vegetables, and several fish ponds were destroyed by the typhoon.
“In two weeks, mag-ha-harvest na po dapat 'yong iba so ang laki po ng damage sa agriculture po (some of it are suppposed to be ready for harvest so the damage to agriculture is really big),” Ubana noted.
Citing ground reports from the Lopez municipal DRRMO, Ubana said a total of 4,870 individuals were evacuated in 25 barangays in the area.
Ubana expects that the number will increase once they receive reports from the other barangays.
Lopez town has a total of 95 barangays. Timbal has assured the public that safety measures were being observed in evacuation centers to prevent the transmission of coronavirus among the displaced persons. "Mayroon po tayong Memo 54 na nandoon na po ang guidance ng NDRRMC for the management of evacuation procedures for emergencies during COVID-19 (We have the Memorandum No. 54 which provides for the guidance released by the NDRRMC for the management of evacuation procedures for emergencies during COVID-19 ),” Timbal told the Manila Bulletin.
NDRRMC Memorandum 54 states that local government units (LGUs) must ensure physical distancing in evacuation centers and provide due priority to vulnerable citizens such as elderly, pregnant women, children, persons with disability, and individuals with underlying conditions.
Individuals will also be subjected to temperature and health screening before they are allowed to enter evacuation centers while wearing of face masks and cleaning and disinfection of the facilities are required.
Safety responders are also mandated to wear personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other protective gears during response operations.
Pepito may intensify
Meanwhile, Pepito may gradually intensify as it hovers over the West Philippine Sea and may reach a severe tropical storm category while on its way to Vietnam, PAGASA said.
So far, it has maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 105 kph.
Most areas affected by Pepito may expect improving weather on Wednesday, except for Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, and Palawan that may still experience light to moderate with at times heavy rains. These areas are still advised by PAGASA to take necessary precautionary measures in the event of flooding and rain-induced landslides that may occur during heavy or prolonged rainfall.
Strong- to near gale-force winds may still prevail in areas under Signal No. 1, as well as in the rest of Northern Luzon due to the enhanced northeasterly winds.
Rough to very rough seas will prevail over areas where tropical cyclone and gale warnings are in effect as waves may reach 2.8 to 5.5 meters.
In particular, such conditions are expected over the entire seaboards of Northern and Central Luzon, seaboard of northern Quezon including Pollilo Islands, and the western seaboards of Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Lubang Islands, Palawan, and Calamian and Kalayaan Islands. Sea travel is risky over these areas, especially for those using small boats, PAGASA warned. Moderate to rough seas with waves reaching up to 1.5 to 3 meters will also prevail over the eastern seaboards of southern Quezon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, and Davao Region.
PAGASA advised those using small boats to take the necessary precautionary measures while venturing out to sea, while inexperienced mariners should avoid navigating under these conditions.
Tropical depression monitored
As this developed, the tropical depression monitored by PAGASA at 1,895 km east-northeast of extreme Northern Luzon is still unlikely to enter the PAR and is not expected to affect the country’s weather condition.
The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with a high chance of isolated afternoon or evening rain showers due to localized thunderstorms.