Butchoy enters Phl

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Storm Butchoy intensified into a typhoon as it entered the Philippine area of responsibility yesterday, the state weather bureau said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the eye of the typhoon was spotted at 1,325 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora as of 4 p.m. yesterday.

It packed winds of 140 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 170 kph.

Butchoy was forecast to move northwest or toward northern Taiwan at 30 kph.

It is the second tropical cyclone to enter the country this year and the first weather disturbance this month.

No province has been placed under public storm warning signal as of yesterday afternoon.

PAGASA senior weather forecaster Rene Paciente said Butchoy is not expected to make landfall but it will enhance the southwest monsoon which will bring rains in many parts of the country until the weekend.

Paciente said they might raise storm signal over Batanes if Butchoy’s outer periphery passes near the extreme Northern Luzon.

The enhanced southwest monsoon will bring cloudy skies with occasional light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms over the Ilocos region, Palawan, Western Visayas and Zamboanga peninsula today.

In the afternoon until evening, the whole of Luzon, the Visayas and Northern Mindanao will become cloudy with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms.

The rest of Mindanao, meanwhile, will be partly cloudy during the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon with chances of isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

From Thursday to Friday, Metro Manila, Mimaropa, Calabarzon, Bicol region, Western Visayas and the provinces of Bataan, Zambales, La Union and Pangasinan will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

The rest of Luzon and the Visayas will be cloudy with occasional light to moderate rains and thunderstorms.

Mindanao will have partly cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

By Saturday and Sunday, Metro Manila and the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Mindoro, Cavite, Batangas and Quezon will have cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms.

The rest of Luzon and Western Visayas will experience occasional light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms.

The rest of the Visayas and Mindanao will be partly cloudy in the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon or evening with some isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

By Monday, the Ilocos region and the provinces of Zambales and Bataan will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Paciente said Butchoy is predicted to exit the Philippines on Friday.

Butchoy is expected to be at 1,010 km east of Aparri, Cagayan this morning; 495 km east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes tomorrow morning; 435 km north northeast of Itbayat by Friday morning; and 775 km north of Itbayat by Saturday morning.

Brewing LPAs

Meanwhile, Paciente said the weather bureau was also monitoring two brewing low-pressure areas (LPAs) inside the country yesterday.

He said one was spotted east of the Visayas, while the other was located east of Mindanao.

Paciente said the one located east of Mindanao has a 60 percent chance of developing into a storm.

He said one to three tropical cyclones are likely to enter the Philippines this month.

DSWD on alert

In preparation for Butchoy, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) yesterday said all its field offices have prepositioned goods at the local level.

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said DSWD-Field Office VII, which manages the Visayas Disaster Hub located in Cebu City, has 31,434 family food packs ready to be delivered to local government units (LGUs) that will be affected by the typhoon. Another warehouse in Bohol has 670 food packs.

Some 11,400 food packs have been allotted for LGUs in Trinidad, Tubigon and Carlos P. Garcia in Bohol; Canlaon City and Mabinay in Negros Oriental and the municipalities of Poro and Pilar in Cebu.

The field office also has P3,008,732 in standby funds that can be used to purchase emergency relief supplies.

It also has three shifts of quick response teams, trained stress debriefers and camp personnel on standby duty and ready for augmentation to affected areas.     – With Pia Lee-Brago