‘Rolly’ arrives: Luzon again on the path of the incoming storm

Forecasters said Thursday that a severe tropical storm that could turn into a typhoon was heading toward Luzon and was expected to drench much of the country’s main island, including Metro Manila, over All Saints’ Day weekend.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that by Friday, an extension of rain clouds from severe tropical storm “Rolly” (international name: Goni) will bring scattered showers and thunderstorms over Visayas eastern and northeastern Mindanao.

He said the storm, which was still more than 1,000 kilometers east of the country Thursday afternoon, would continue to intensify to typhoon strength on Friday as it blows west across the Philippine Sea.

Rolly was seen to make landfall on Saturday or Sunday in Quezon and Aurora provinces, with the Bicol region avoiding a direct hit, Pagasa said. .

An earlier forecast showed the storm tracked down the destructive Typhoon “Quinta” (international name: Molave), which killed 16 after hitting southern Luzon last weekend.

Despite a slight difference on the Rolly track, Pagasa still warned residents in the eastern parts of central and southern Luzon to prepare for heavy rains this weekend.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, the storm was located 1,505 kilometers east of Central Luzon, with maximum winds of 110 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 135 kilometers per hour. It was moving west at 15 kph.

Bicol ‘red alert’

In the city of Legazpi, the regional Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Thursday ordered all local disaster councils in Bicol to remain on “red alert” and begin preventive evacuation in places prone to floods, lahars, landslides. and storm surges once there are heavy rains and winds begin to whip these areas.

Mass evacuations

The directive came just a week after 69,187 families, or 261,422 people, were evacuated about 24 hours before Quinta arrived in the region.

Quinta swept through southern Luzon on Monday and Tuesday this week, leaving 13 dead, damaging hundreds of homes and causing losses of almost P2 billion in agriculture and infrastructure in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate. in Bicol; Mindoro Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan in Mimaropa; and Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon in Calabarzon.

Policy of ‘no browsing’

Claudio Yucot, the head of OCD Bicol, ordered local disaster councils to strictly enforce the “no sailing” policy for fishermen, said Gremil Alexis Naz, a spokesman for the agency.

The measure would prevent a repeat of an incident that left eight dead, six of them fishermen from Bicol, who ignored the storm warning. Two other fishermen were still missing as of Thursday.

Dr. Paul Karson Alanis, a resident volcanologist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Legazpi, advised Albay residents to watch out for possible lahar flows in the event of torrential rains.

When Quinta arrived in Albay last Sunday, about 2,000 families living on the slopes of Mayon were evacuated.

Several roads in one city were rendered impassable due to debris cascading down the slopes of the volcano.

Stranded passengers

The Oriental Mindoro provincial government, one of the hardest hit by Quinta, suspended the entry of stranded people returning to the province on Thursday to give officials enough time to cope with the devastation caused by the typhoon and prepare for another storm. .

14 day ban

The province was in a state of calamity due to the severe damage caused by the typhoon to farms and infrastructure.

Governor Humerlito Dolor clarified that the 14-day ban, which will last until November 11, should not be a problem for residents or tourists who tested negative for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“They will still be allowed in [during the period]”Pain said.

A person can travel to Oriental Mindoro, approximately two hours by ferry from Batangas city, within 24 hours of the time their test result is published.

Quarantine centers

Pain said they were trying to avoid overcrowding at the COVID-19 quarantine centers that in many villages were also being used as evacuation centers during typhoons.

He said local government personnel were overwhelmed with distributing aid for the more than 16,000 people affected by the recent typhoon.

Residents with family members scheduled to return home for All Saints’ Day criticized the ban, but Dolor said it was a necessary precaution against an increase in the virus, especially after the daily average of new infections in the province had dropped. to “1 to 2”.

Oriental Mindoro had 64 active cases, out of 144 across the region, as of Oct. 27, according to the Health Department.

Pain also said that more than 30,000 people had returned to the province since May, when local governments began bringing home residents trapped in lockdowns in Metro Manila and other provinces.

“We have to balance things out here,” he said.

Raise the water level

In what may be good news, especially for Metro Manila, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) reported on Thursday that the water level at the Angat Dam in Bulacan province had risen to more than 20 meters after three storms. this month.

The rains of the tropical depression “Ofel” on October 14 raised the water level of the dam by 4.3 meters above sea level (masl) from 179.67 meters just three days earlier.

It rose to 190.37 meters above sea level with the rains of typhoon “Pepito” on October 21. Quinta had raised it to 200.20 meters above sea level on Thursday, near its spill mark of 212 meters above sea level.

The dam will need an additional thirty feet to ensure a sufficient and uninterrupted supply of water to Metro Manila, especially for the first quarter of 2021, according to Francis Clara, head of NIA’s water control coordination unit.

The Bustos and Ipo dams, which capture rainwater from the Angat Dam, continued to discharge water after their elevation remained above the level of the spill. —WITH REPORTS FROM MAR S. ARGUELLES, MICHAEL JAUCIAN, MARICAR CINCO AND CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE

Click here for more weather related news.

Read next