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Disaster response teams were dispatched to northern Luzon on Thursday as severe tropical storm “Siony” (international name: Atsani) approached Batanes province and the Babuyan Islands.
Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., commander of the Army’s Northern Luzon Command, said the military had mobilized soldiers in the Ilocos, Valle de Cagayan and Cordillera regions to assist in possible evacuations and relief operations.
Siony intensified slightly Thursday afternoon, with winds of 100 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 125 kilometers per hour, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
After slowing down earlier this week, it started moving west, toward the Strait of Luzon, and can reach a peak intensity of 75 mph on Friday morning when it passes over or near the vicinity of the Batanes Islands. or Babuyan, where it could be classified as a typhoon, Pagasa said.
Warning signs
Batanes and the Babuyan Islands were placed under storm signal No. 2 on Thursday in anticipation of the landfall or close approach to Siony on Friday.
Pagasa raised Storm Signal No. 1 over several other areas in the northern areas of Cagayan, Apayao and Ilocos Norte provinces.
Residents under storm warnings should prepare for high winds or near gale conditions as Siony gets closer to land, Pagasa said.
Its trough, or extension, can also bring scattered light to moderate rains, sometimes with heavy rains in most of central Luzon, southern Luzon, Bicol region, Visayas and Mindanao.
More rescue groups
Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco said the provincial government had prepared heavy equipment, food packages and non-food items, and mobilized more local rescue groups.
He asked residents to secure their houses and shutters against the wind before strong winds.
In the city of Itbayán, additional rescue groups were on standby in danger zones, according to Nilda Salengua García, a municipal disaster risk reduction and management officer.
At 4 p.m. Thursday, the center of Siony was estimated to be 340 kilometers east of the city of Basco, Batanes, moving at 20 kilometers per hour. Pagasa said the storm could leave Philippine territory on Friday afternoon and gradually weaken after its departure for the Western Philippine Sea.
The meteorological service is also monitoring another area of low pressure east of the Visayas that remained outside the country’s territory.
Forecasters said it could enter Philippine territory on Friday afternoon and evening, and turn into a tropical depression over the weekend. It was seen moving northwest, towards the eastern Visayas and the eastern part of southern Luzon.
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