Helen dumps more rains

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical storm “Helen” dumped more rains over Northern Luzon yesterday and is expected to make landfall within the next 24 hours if it does not change direction, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Christopher Perez, Pagasa weather forecaster, said gusty winds and heavy rains would prevail over Northern Luzon and warned that sea conditions would be rough.

Water elevation at Angat Dam in Bulacan climbed slightly in the last three days as Helen brought more rains over Luzon.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the dam, which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water needs, recorded the highest water elevation at 195.90 meters, compared to 195.68 meters recorded at 8 a.m. last Sunday, records at the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Office showed.

Officials of the Angat River Hydro-Electric Power Plant that manages the Angat Dam in Norzagaray told The STAR that if the current trend would continue, Metro Manila would have enough water supply.

Pagasa raised yesterday storm signal No. 2 over Isabela, Cagayan, Calayan Group of Islands, Apayao, and Batanes, and signal No. 1 over Ilocos Norte, Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Aurora.

As of 5 p.m. Helen was spotted at 170 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan with maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph.

It was forecast to move west-northwest at 7 kph.

Perez said Helen would continue to enhance the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat and bring rains over the rest of Luzon, particularly over the western section of the region in the next two days.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said the surge of southwest monsoon is expected to affect the seaboards of Luzon and Visayas.

It advised fishing boats and other small seacraft not to venture out into the sea while bigger ships are alerted against moderate to high waves.

This afternoon, Helen is expected to be at 100 kms northeast of Aparri, Cagayan and 190 kms north of Basco, Batanes tomorrow afternoon. It will move out of the country to northern Taiwan by Friday afternoon.  – Helen Flores, Dino Balabo