Pepeng’ veers away

Prayers worked.

And so it seemed to the weather forecasters at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), who monitored drastic changes in the strength and direction that Typhoon “Pepeng” has been taking since late Friday night.

PAGASA Director Nathaniel Cruz said the country miraculously dodged a “bullet” when the High-pressure area (HPA) near Hong Kong prevented “Pepeng,” which is starting to veer away from the country, from moving towards the South China Sea, sparing several Cordillera and Cagayan provinces from being directly hit by the typhoon.

Cruz explained that the HPA diverted the track of the typhoon's eye towards the northwest, threatening instead to cross the extreme northern part of Luzon by entering and directly hitting Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Kalinga, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte on Saturday afternoon at around 3 p.m.

“We can say that we are really lucky. Nobody let another disaster follow (Tropical Storm) Ondoy,” Cruz said, highlighting that the change of direction that spared Metro Manila from receiving heavy rainfall for 9 to 12 hours starting Saturday.

Officials said the risk of another major disaster was easing because the new storm had changed direction slightly and was no longer headed to heavily populated regions of Northern Luzon.

But heavy rain was falling across a swath of Luzon that is still flooded, and violent winds were battering the far-north province of Cagayan.

Trees were uprooted and power pylons toppled in Tuguegarao, local government official Bonifacio Cuarteros told The Associated Press by telephone.

Typhoon “Pepeng” was spotted at 60 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City or 100 kilometers southeast of Aparri both in Cagayan as of Saturday noon and had been expected to be about 260 kilometers west of Basco, Batanes this morning and 620 kilometers northwest of Laoag City on Monday morning.

Cruz, PAGASA spokesman, added that the HPA also accelerated the movement of the typhoon's eye to 17 kph, minimizing its duration of stay over Northern Luzon and will dump heavy rains in Cagayan, including Babuyan islands, Kalinga, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte for only nine to 12 hours.

He noted that the good weather-causing system in Hong Kong also weakened Typhoon “Pepeng,” slightly dragging down its strength to maximum winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of 210 kph as of Saturday noon.

Robert Sawi, PAGASA senior weather section chief, assured that “Pepeng” will no longer be a super-typhoon, noting that the friction caused by the decreasing proximity of tropical cyclone to the land mass of Cagayan province has also weakened the typhoon.

Fearing that strong winds brought about by the typhoon will still generate “storm surges similar to tsunamis,” PAGASA hoisted Storm Signal No. 3 over Batanes, Babuyan, and Calayan group of islands as well as Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Mountain Province, Apayao, Kalinga, and northern part of Isabela.

The weather bureau added that winds with 100 to 185 kph strength will blow over Northern Luzon provinces this entire Sunday, which could cause heavy damage to agriculture, uproot large trees, destroy nipa or cogon houses, disrupt power, and communication services.

Storm Signal No. 2 was raised over the rest of Isabela, Ifugao, Nueva Viscaya, Benguet, and La Union, where stormy weather and 60 to 100 kph winds were expected to moderately damage agriculture, adversely affect rice and corn crops, uproot large trees, unroof nipa or cogon houses until Monday.

Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan were also put under the lowest storm signal, warning that twigs and tree branches maybe broken, some banana plants may tilt or land flat on the ground while rice in flowering stage may suffer significant damage.

The weather bureau expect that the rest of Luzon will have occasional rains with gradual improvement in weather condition taking effect over Southern Luzon starting this Sunday.

Roads closed
While the Cordilleras was spared, three major roads were closed, power was shutdown, and various residents were evacuated.

Engineer Roy Manao, regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the Cordillera, said the Baguio-Bontoc-Banaue Road or the Halsema Highway, the Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao Road, and the Bontoc-Talubin-Paracelis-Natonin-Barlig Road, all located in most parts of Mountain Province, were closed to vehicular traffic because of landslides.

In a report, the Cordillera Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (CRDCC) said power was cut off in Apayao and Kalinga because of the strong winds and heavy rains brought about by Pepeng.

Hundreds of individuals from Barangays Cabaruan and San Francisco Dagupan, Tabuk, Kalinga were also evacuated to higher grounds since water at Chico River has already swollen and threatening their houses.

Preemptive evacuation
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary and National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Chairman Gilberto Teodoro Jr. reported to President Arroyo the success of the preemptive evacuation undertaken in low-lying areas in some regions of the country that were projected to be affected by Pepeng.

It was the first time in history that the government conducted a preemptive evacuation of people living in flood-prone areas to avoid loss of lives. Latest NDCC reports showed at least 30,000 families have been preemptively evacuated in Regions 1, 2, 4A, and 5.

Teodoro also told the President that government troops that were deployed for “typhoon duties” since the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” have been told to stay put for two more days. The secretary said “it’s too early to pull out the troops” considering the threat posed by typhoon “Pepeng.”

According to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesman, Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., around 10,000 troops have been deployed for “typhoon duties” in Metro Manila and in the areas under the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom).

In line with the preemptive evacuation implemented by the government, latest NDCC report showed in Region 1, 136 families in six barangays in the municipalities of Aringay, Bauang, and San Fernando City, all in La Union, were evacuated in designated evacuation centers; in Region 2, evacuated were 622 families in Isabela, 1,920 families in Sta. Teresita, and 35 families in Quirino, while 1,542 families in Cagayan province and 1,920 families in Batanes are ready for evacuation.

In Region 4-A, preemptive evacuations were conducted in all provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal (Calabarzon).

In Region 5, authorities evacuated 13,431 families – 19,581 in Albay, 1,835 in Camarines Sur, 215 in Sorsogon, 15 in Camarines Norte, and 785 in Catanduanes.

The early evacuation was in accordance with a directive from the President to implement preemptive evacuation to avoid a repeat of the Ondoy tragedy. (With reports from The Associated Press, Dexter A. See, and Elena L. Aben)