Fairer weather as Bising exits Philippines today

MANILA, Philippines — Fairer weather can be expected today as tropical storm Bising exits the Philippine area of responsibility.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the tropical cyclone would no longer affect any part the country as it moves eastward out of the country.

Bising is expected to continually weaken into a tropical cyclone and dissolve by Monday.

PAGASA said Bising was estimated at 1,080 kilometers northeast of extreme Northern Luzon as of  3 p.m. yesterday.

The weather system had maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 105 kph.

The temperature in Metro Manila today may range between 25 degrees to 32 degrees Celsius. Isolated rainshowers can be expected.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 85,570 families or about 345,000 individuals were affected by Bising when it passed through the eastern portion of the country this week.

At least 779 families remain in 24 evacuation centers in Cagayan Valley, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Caraga.

A total of 147 houses were destroyed and 1,603 were damaged in the affected regions.

Bising left four people dead and 13 others injured.

Damage to agriculture and infrastructure was placed at P261 million and P10.5 million, respectively.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said more than 8,000 farmers and 6,639 hectares of agricultural areas in Bicol and Eastern Visayas were affected by the typhoon as of 4 p.m. on Friday.

The volume of production loss was placed at 12.039 metric tons.

Rice accounted for 60 percent of the damage valued at P127.1 million.— Catherine Talavera