AT LEAST five people died as Super Typhoon Doksuri or Egay battered the coastline of northern Philippines with gale-force winds and torrential rains on Wednesday, bursting riverbanks and leaving thousands without electricity.
Four of the deaths were from the Cordillera region, while one was from the Calabarzon region, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in a report. Four of the victims died after a landslide struck their house in Buguias town in Benguet province.
Egay left the Philippine area of responsibility on Thursday morning, even as another low pressure area had developed into a tropical depression.
In a 5 p.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Egay was last spotted 289 kilometers west of Itbayat, Batanes.
It had maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of 185 kph. It was moving northwestward at 10 kph.
Signal No. 1 was still raised over Batanes, the northern portion of Apayao, Ilocos Norte, and the northwestern part of Cagayan including Babuyan Islands.
Gale warning was in effect over the coastal waters along the seaboards of Luzon and the eastern and western seaboards of the Visayas.
“Egay is forecast to weaken prior to its landfall over China,” PAGASA said. “Rapid weakening is expected once Egay makes landfall over mainland China and moves further inland.”
In an 11 a.m. advisory, PAGASA said the low-pressure area outside the Philippine area of responsibility had developed into a tropical cyclone hours after Egay left.
The tropical depression, which will be named Falcon once it develops into a typhoon, was estimated at 1,585 kilometers east of Eastern Visayas.
It was packing maximum sustained winds of 55 kph and gustiness of up to 70 kph. It was moving northwestward at 20 kph.
Damage and losses from Egay were estimated at P53.1 million, with a volume of production loss at 1,871 metric tons and 3,185 hectares of agricultural areas, according to the Department of Agriculture. About 2,303 farmers were affected by the typhoon.
In a separate report, NDRRMC said 328,356 people from 89,639 families had been affected by Egay.
Damage to houses and infrastructure had reached P195,000 and P1.7 million, respectively.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units have given out P10.29 million worth of food packs and other items.
Social Welfare spokesman Rommel Lopez said about 10,000 food packs were distributed to the Ilocos region. The agency would prioritize relief good distribution in Santiago City in Isabela, Tuguegarao, and some areas in Quirino province, he added.
DSWD has positioned 1.2 million family food packs nationwide. It also has P175 million in quick-response funds that could be used in cash-for-work, food-for-work and emergency cash transfers.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said airports in Northern Luzon were now operational except for Laoag International Airport.
“So far, all of the airports in Northern Luzon except for Laoag airport are already operational,” CAAP spokesman Eric B. Apolonio told a news briefing. “It is the call of the airlines if they want to start their operations.
Airport facilities must go through a thorough clearing to be considered operational, he added.
Manila International Airport Authority said in an advisory 22 flights were canceled on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Six PAL Express flights to and from Basco and Laoag were canceled, while Cebu Pacific’s Manila-Laoag-Manila flight and CebGo’s Manila-Masbate-Manila flight were also canceled.
AirSWIFT also canceled 14 flights to and from El Nido and Romblon. — S.J. Talavera and Justine Irish D. Tabile