Igme exits RP with P2-M damage to agri

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon “Igme” (international name Fung-Wong) finally exited the Philippines Monday night after leaving at least five people dead and about P2 million worth of damage to agriculture.

Prisco Nilo, director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the western sections of central and northern Luzon would continue to experience monsoon rains in the next two to three days.

Mindanao, he said, would experience scattered rainshowers due to the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) affecting the region.

Nilo said the rest of the country would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

He said the coastal waters throughout the archipelago would be slight to moderate except during thunderstorms.

Igme left the Philippine area of responsibility at about 8 p.m. Monday. Although it did not make landfall in the country, Igme dumped heavy rains with gusty winds in some parts of Luzon in the past days.

In a report yesterday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said Igme damaged some P2 million worth of agriculture products in the Ilocos Region and Cordillera Administrative Region.

The typhoon also affected some 3,992 families or 15,956 persons in the two regions, it said.

In a final weather bulletin, Pagasa said Igme has made landfall over the eastern coast of mainland China early morning yesterday.

As of 4 a.m. yesterday, the eye of the typhoon was spotted some 660 kilometers north-northwest of Basco, Batanes or 295 kms west-northwest of Taipei, Taiwan.

It packed winds of 120 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 150 kph.