'Mina' weakens after landfall

MANILA, Philippines - Super typhoon “Mina” yesterday weakened after making landfall as it battered Northern Luzon, causing massive evacuation of families in Isabela and Cagayan and leaving four children dead in the province of Pangasinan and Baguio City.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) yesterday afternoon lowered the typhoon alert signal from 4 to 3 as Mina (international name Nanmadol) weakened but maintained its slow movement.

PAGASA senior weather forecaster Robert Sawi said the typhoon lost some of its strength when it made landfall in Sta. Ana, Cagayan province.

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, PAGASA announced that public storm warning signal no. 3 had been hoisted over Cagayan, including Babuyan and Calayan group of islands, Apayao and Batanes, with winds of 101-185 kilometers per hour (kph) expected in at least 18 hours.

Signal no. 2 has been raised over Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao and Isabela with winds of 61 to 100 kph expected in at least 24 hours; and signal no. 1 covering La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Aurora with winds of 45-60 kph expected within the next 36 hours.

PAGASA also estimated rainfall of 15 to 25 millimeters per hour within the 600-kilometer diameter of the typhoon.

Sawi said this was almost only half of the rainfall of tropical storm “Ondoy.”

Ondoy, which hit Metro Manila and Southern Luzon on Sept. 26, 2009, had rainfall recorded at 50 millimeters per hour.

PAGASA said the eye of typhoon Mina was located 50 kms northeast of Aparri, Cagayan with maximum sustained winds of 165 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 200 kph.

It is moving northwest at 7 kph.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said 13 families (55 people) were evacuated from Maconacon, Isabela while 134 families (565 people) in Gonzaga, Tuao, Sta. Ana, all in Cagayan, were also evacuated.

In Isabela, the PNP said roads in Dimalaudi, Dinapigue, and the Cabangan-Sto. Tomas Bridge and the Alicaocao Bridge in Cauayan town have been rendered impassable to all types of vehicles.

The Tawi Bridge in Peñablanca, the Bagunot and Abusag bridges in Baggao, Cagayan, and the Cabatan Bridge in Tuguegarao City were also reported to be impassable to all types of vehicles.

In San Fabian, Pangasinan, two children were killed after a landslide buried the house of a certain Rolly Bautista in Barangay Rabon.

In Baguio, two children identified as Revillar Flores, 13, and Apolinario Flores, 10, were reported killed when the retaining wall of the Irisan dumpsite collapsed.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) head Benito Ramos said the remains of the children were recovered two hours later after tons of mud buried their hillside residence.

In the Cordillera Administrative Region, the PNP reported that 81 families (353 people) were evacuated in Baguio City; four persons were reported missing and two others injured.

Police said all roads and bridges in Abra are passable, except from Kiangan to Tinoc because of a landslide. In Apayao, the road between Barangay Butao to Poblacion was also blocked by a landslide.

In Baguio City, Kennon Road and Ambuklao Road were closed as police also reported that the City Camp Lagoon was flooded.

A strong tornado also reportedly hit a village in Sarrat town in Ilocos Norte, damaging 18 houses and leaving several others in disarray.

NDRRMC reported that two went missing in Ilocos Sur after having been swept away by strong currents. They were identified as Roger Manquit, 28, and 60-year-old Romeo Dangalan Jr. 

In Mt. Province-Nueva Vizcaya Road, the Baguio-Bontoc Road and the Mt. Province-Ilocos Sur Road were also closed.

All in all, 15 domestic flights were cancelled due to the bad weather.

Families displaced

Mina’s rainfall estimated to be at 15 to 25 millimeters per hour did not only affect the whole Northern Luzon but also Central Luzon and Metro Manila, as well as wide areas of the Bicol region and Western Visayas, directly affecting some 2,800 families or 11,720 people.

Most of these displaced families came from the 27 flood-stricken villages of Iloilo and Negros Occidental in Western Visayas, with 2,284 families; Albay in the Bicol region with 152 families; and 52 families from the towns of Gonzaga ad Tuao in Cagayan Valley where Mina made landfall yesterday.

The displaced families are now staying in various evacuations centers while some have sought shelter with relatives.

Seven barangays in Iloilo City were affected by the storm, even if the province was not directly hit, due to the enhanced southwest monsoon.

In some areas of Desamparados and Calubihan, floods were waist-deep.

According to reports, two elderly people were trapped in their flooded home at Barangay Desamparados, but were rescued by a team from the Philippine Navy.

Ramos said they have been monitoring widespread flooding and landslides in the Cagayan area yesterday but have yet to receive an official confirmation report from local regional disaster officials.

Ramos urged travelers who are planning to spend their long weekend in Cagayan Valley to forego their trip because of the prevailing severe weather system.

NDRRMC reported that water levels of the country’s major dams remain below critical level, except for Magat, which opened one of its floodgates to release excess water, and Binga Dam, which opened two of its floodgates yesterday morning after the water reached the critical level.

DOH hoists Code White Alert

Over in the island province of Biliran, three school buildings at the Culaba Central School were blown away by a tornado that hit the school compound the other day.

Eighty-four passengers of a listing ferry survived after the M/V Maria Josefa, owned by the Montenegro Shipping Lines, en route to Catainga, Masbate from Bogo in Cebu, was able to return and dock safely at the Bogo port.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it is ready to dispatch search and rescue teams to Northern Luzon to address a possible maritime disaster.

PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Algier Ricafrente said they have deployed two water search and rescue teams, complete with rubber boats and rigid-hull inflatable boats with outboard motor, to Currimao, Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. Another team was sent to La Union.

Three Special Operations Group divers were sent to help a trapped person under a bridge in Aringay, La Union.

The Coast Guard also called off its search and rescue operations for a fisherman who went missing when his motorboat capsized.

Ricafrente identified the victim as 48-year-old Fred Nantas Sr., a resident of Barangay Cariaquis, Luna, La Union.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) has activated the Code White Alert in all government hospitals in areas where typhoon alerts were hoisted.

Dr. Carmencita Banatin, director of the DOH’s Health Emergency Management Service, said these hospitals should make sure that they have enough medical supplies and manpower in case there is an increased influx of patients from affected areas.

“It’s actually a standard operating procedure for our hospitals to be on Code White Alert if they are situated in a place affected by a typhoon. It’s automatic for them. It has already been institutionalized,” she said.

Banatin added the regional offices of the DOH in areas in the path of typhoon Mina have also been alerted in case they have to provide first aid and other medical assistance to typhoon victims - With Mike Frialde, Sheila Crisostomo, Rudy Santos, Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca, Artemio Dumlao, Jennifer Rendon, AP