Odette intensifies into typhoon

MANILA, Philippines - Several areas were placed under storm warning signals yesterday as Typhoon Odette continued to move closer to Northern Luzon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

As of 5 p.m., signal No. 2 was raised over Batanes, Cagayan, Calayan, Babuyan Islands and Apayao, while signal No. 1 was hoisted over Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Abra, Kalinga and Isabela.

At 4 p.m., the eye of the typhoon was at 570 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City, with winds of up to 160 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 195 kph.

It was forecast to move northwest at 15 kph.

PAGASA said the Batanes Group of Islands, Cagayan, including Calayan and Babuyan Group of Islands and Apayao, would be stormy in the next 24 hours.

Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and the rest of Cordillera will have rains with gusty winds and moderate to rough seas.

Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan, Western Visayas and the provinces of Zambales and Bataan will have cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms.    Residents in these areas were told to watch out for flashfloods and landslides.

Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon and the Visayas and the Zamboanga peninsula will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms.

The rest of Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Those living in coastal areas under signal no. 2 were warned against storm surge.

Sea travel in Occidental Mindoro, Palawan and the eastern seaboard of central and southern Luzon and the Visayas was prohibited.

Odette is expected to be 320 km northeast of Aparri, Cagayan this afternoon; at 50 km northwest of Basco, Batanes by tomorrow afternoon; and at 380 km west of Basco or outside the Philippine area of responsibility by Sunday afternoon.

The Philippine Coast Guard suspended travel to the island-municipalities of Itbayat and Sabtang in Batanes.

Inter-island vessels and fishing boats have been towed to safety to avoid destruction.

Cargo vessel M/V Transcend, which arrived in Batanes from Manila last Monday, was advised to leave and seek shelter in mainland Luzon.

Odette is the 15th tropical cyclone this year and the first weather disturbance this month.

OCD-Cordillera on red alert

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Cordillera has been placed on red alert as Odette is expected to hit the region.

OCD-Cordillera administrator Andrew Alex Uy said they would intensify monitoring and information dissemination on the typhoon.

Uy said he ordered field units to draft measures that would help lessen the effects of the weather disturbance.

Three roads – Kalinga-Abra, Balbalan-Pinukpuk and Tabuk-Banaue through the Tanudan-Barlig road – remain closed to traffic due to clearing operations by personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The Army has placed on standby three rubber boats, three ambulance units, 10 M35 and 12 KM450 trucks for possible rescue operations.

The Air Force Tactical Operations Group 1 has prepared an M35 truck, three elf trucks and one KM450 truck for disaster response efforts.

The Philippine Military Academy has readied three M35 trucks, two ambulance units and 13 buses to respond when the need arises.

Magat Dam reaches critical level

Rains spawned by Odette since early this week have raised the water level at the Magat Dam located at the border of Isabela and Ifugao provinces, prompting authorities to release excess water.

Saturnino Tenedor, head of the dam’s flood forecasting and warning section, said the water level reached 191.17 meters, which is within the critical level of 190 meters.

Earlier, dam officials said they released water gradually to avoid flooding the low-lying areas in Isabela and southern Cagayan.

Mariano Dancel, operations manager of the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System, said the dam’s downstream areas were equipped with automatic rain gauges and water level sensors to help monitor flashfloods.

Step up drive on climate change, gov’t asked

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday called on the government to intensify the campaign against climate change as she noted that stranded commuters, long queues in terminals, students wading in floodwaters, stalled vehicles and bancas have become usual scenes during rains.

Legarda, chair of the committee on climate change and environment, said rains and floods do not only affect the poor and the working class, but also the economy.

She cited the AON Benfield’s Impact Forecasting titled “December 2012 Global Catastrophic Recap,” which identified Typhoon Bopha (Pablo) as the world’s deadliest disaster in 2012.

According to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, from 1900 to this year the Philippines experienced 276 natural disasters. – With Alexis Romero, Jack Castano, Charlie Lagasca, Christina Mendez