Carina pummels Northern Luzon

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Storm Carina (international name Nida) slammed into Northern Luzon yesterday, bringing heavy rains and strong winds that forced the cancellation of some flights and suspension of classes in affected areas.

Carina, the third tropical cyclone to enter the country this year, maintained its strength even after making landfall over Gattaran, Cagayan at 1:20 p.m. Sunday.

As of 4 p.m., the eye of the storm was spotted some 30 kilometers south of Aparri, Cagayan, packing winds of 95 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 120 kph.

 It was forecast to move northwest at 20 kph.

 As of 5 p.m., tropical cyclone warning signal No. 2 remained hoisted over Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, Abra, Cagayan and Babuyan islands.

Signal No. 1 was raised over Batanes islands, Benguet, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

  The storm was forecast to dump moderate to heavy rains within its 500-km diameter.

 PAGASA said stormy weather with rough to very rough seas will still prevail over Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, Abra and Cagayan, including Babuyan group of islands today.

 Rains with gusty winds will be experienced over Batanes group of islands, Benguet, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

 Calabarzon, Mimaropa and the rest of Central Luzon will have moderate to heavy rains, which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

 Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms are expected over Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Western Visayas, Zamboanga peninsula, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Northern Mindanao.

 Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms will prevail over the rest of the country.

 Carina was projected to be 420 km west of Itbayat, Batanes or outside the Philippine area of responsibility this morning

Landslide, class suspension, power outage

Heavy rains caused landslide in Catanduanes yesterday. Incessant rains softened the soil in Luyang Cave in Barangay Lictin, San Andres town, causing landslide that blocked some roads.

In Cagayan, Gov. Manuel Mamba yesterday declared the suspension of classes in all levels in the province, and ordered the pre-emptive evacuation of people living in low-lying areas near the Cagayan River.

 Power outage also hit the towns of Buguey, Sta. Ana, Santa Teresita and Gonzaga after transmission lines and other facilities along Magapit-Sta. Ana 69 kV transmission line segment were affected by the storm, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Information Officer Lilibeth Gaydowen said NGCP would inspect and restore the power lines as soon as the weather allows.

 In Isabela, Gov. Faustino Dy III also declared the suspension of classes in the province.

 In Manila, domestic flights were canceled yesterday due to the tropical storm.

PAL Express canceled Manila-Tuguegarao-Manila flight 2P 2014/2015 and flight 2P 2196/2197 Manila-Laoag-Manila. Cebu Pacific also cancelled flight 5J 506/507 from Manila-Tuguegarao-Manila.

Flights were also cancelled in Tuguegarao airport in Cagayan and Cauayan airport in Isabela.

Gov’t readies relief goods

The national government readied 32,000 food packs for Regions 1 and 8, which are expected to be hardest hit, Malacañang said yesterday.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said he was coordinating with undersecretary Ric Jalad of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and officers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to make sure that preparations are done.

“They reported that relief goods are now placed on stand-by. There is also a stockpile of almost 30,000 family food packs for Region 1 and about 1,900 for Region 8,” Andanar said.

DSWD Bicol also said there are enough relief goods for affected residents in Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon.

“We had already prepositioned relief goods in those areas,” said Arnel Garcia, DSWD regional director for Bicol, during an emergency teleconference meeting at the Office of Civil Defense.

Garcia said he is just waiting for additional requests from local government units that would be affected by the inclement weather.

The DSWD has total stand-by funds of P72.9 million for relief efforts this year.

“This is more than enough for those who will be affected by tropical storm Carina,” Garcia said. - With Giovanni Nilles, Francis Elevado, Raymund Catindig, Victor Martin, Celso Amo, Rudy Santos