Philippine 24-Hour Public Weather Forecast October 18,2009

Issued at: 5:00 a.m., 18 October 2009
Valid beginning: 5:00 a.m. today until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow

Synopsis:

At 2:00 am today, Typhoon "RAMIL" (LUPIT) {0920} was located based on satellite and surface data at 970 kms East of Casiguran, Aurora (16.8°N 132.5°E) with maximum sustained winds of 160 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 195 kph. It is forecast to move Northwest slowly.

Forecast:

Bicol Region, Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Light to moderate winds blowing from the Northwest to West will prevail over Luzon and coming from the Southwest to West over the rest of the country. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate except during thunderstorms.

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PAG-ASA-DOST

Ramil intensifies into typhoon, early evacuation urged

10/17/2009 | 09:15 AM

After entering Philippine territory, tropical cyclone "Ramil" (international code name “Lupit") intensified into a typhoon, but may not directly affect the country until Sunday.

But this early, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned residents in Northern and Central Luzon to voluntarily evacuate early.

“Yun na nga, uulit-ulitin na naman namin (sasabihan) ang naninirahan
sa paanan ng bundok, mag-evacuate [nang maaga] (We have to repeat our
advise to those living near mountain slopes to evacuate early)," Pagasa head Prisco Nilo said in an interview on dzRH radio.
'Ramil' Watch
At 2:00 a.m. Saturday, typhoon "Ramil" was located based on satellite and surface data at 850 kms East of Virac, Catanduanes (14.6°N 133.2°E) with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gustiness of up to 150 kph. It is moving West Northwest at 20 kph.


“Imposibleng gawin ng pamahalaan na isa-isahin ang paglilikas. Ang kababayan doon sa areas na delikado sila mismo lumikas para maiwasan ang pagkaroon ng pagkasawi sa buhay (It will be impossible for government to individually evacuate people in so short a time. If you live near a high-risk area, please evacuate to prevent loss of life)," he added.

He said it is still too early to say where “Ramil" will head, saying it may be northern Luzon or Central Luzon. A third possibility is that the typhoon will head towards Taiwan.

Either way, he said “Ramil" will bring much rain to the areas it will pass. If it passes central Luzon, it may bring rains to Metro Manila, he added.

“Ang areas na dadaanan ng bagyo dadanas ng malakas na ulan. Kung tatama sa Central Luzon, aabutin tayo sa Metro Manila ng malakas na ulan (Areas where ‘Ramil’ will pass will experience heavy rains. So if it goes to Central Luzon, Metro Manila can expect much rain)," he
said.

For its part, the Philippine Coast Guard said it is on alert in the areas expected to be affected.

Coast Guard commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said going on alert is “automatic" for them, especially in the wake of recent killer tropical cyclones “Ondoy" (Ketsana) and “Pepeng" (Parma).

“Kahit LPA pa lang naghahanda ang ating tauhan sa Coast Guard (Even when it was still a low-pressure area we are already preparing)," Tamayo said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He said the Coast Guard will be on heightened alert in areas under Signal No. 1, and full alert in areas under Signal No. 2.

As of 2 a.m. Saturday, Pagasa said “Ramil" was estimated at 850 kms east of Virac, Catanduanes with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gustiness of up to 150 kph and is moving west-northwest at 20 kph.

In its 5 a.m. bulletin Saturday, Pagasa said “Ramil" continues to move towards northern and central Luzon.

“Bicol Region and the Eastern sections of Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms," it said.

But in its 11 p.m. advisory Friday that “Ramil" is not due to directly affect any part of the country “within the next 36 hours."

Pagasa’s 11 p.m. advisory forecast it to be 580 kms east-northeast of Virac, Catanduanes Saturday evening, and 420 kms northeast of Virac, Catanduanes Sunday evening.

By Monday evening it forecast “Ramil" to be 380 kms east of Casiguran, Aurora.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said light to moderate winds blowing from the southwest and southeast will prevail over Luzon and coming from the southwest and west over the rest of the country.

Coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate except during thunderstorms.
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GMANews.TV

Philippine 24-Hour Public Weather Forecast October 16,2009

Issued at: 5:00 p.m., 16 October 2009
Valid beginning: 5:00 p.m. today until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow


Synopsis:

At 2:00 p.m. today, Tropical Storm (LUPIT) {0920} was located at 1,130 kms East of Bicol Region (14.0°N 136.0°E) with maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 120 kph. It is moving West Northwest at 32 kph. Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) affecting Luzon.

Forecast:

Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Light to moderate winds coming from the Southwest to Southeast will prevail over Luzon and coming from the Southwest and West over the rest of the country. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate except during thunderstorms.

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PAG-ASA/DOST

Irish priest seized in Mindanao

An elderly Irish priest has been seized by gunmen in the troubled southern Philippines, local police say.

They say six attackers, said to be Islamic militants, took Father Michael Sinnott, 78, at gunpoint in Pagadian City, on Mindanao island.

They then fled with the priest in a minivan before boarding a boat.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The Philippine army has been fighting the Abu Sayyaf Islamic militant group in the region.

Father Michael, a priest from the Missionaries of St Columban, was seized by the gunmen at his city residence on Sunday, police say.

The getaway van was later found abandoned and set on fire in a coastal area.

"We've alerted all our units as well as the military to be on the lookout and intercept the gunmen," Angelo Sunglao, police chief in western Mindanao region, told reporters.

"We can't speculate yet on who is behind the kidnapping, but the Abu Sayyaf is known to be operating near the area," he added.

Deadly group

The Philippines director of the Columban missionaries, Father Pat O'Donoghue, said Father Michael was "robust for his age" but had undergone a heart bypass operation four years ago.

Guide to the Philippines conflict

"The concern that I would have is that if he does not have his medication this would be very serious thing for him, especially given the shock," Father Pat told the PA news agency.

"It must be a very shocking thing to find yourself bundled into a car and taken away."

A friend of Father Michael's said he was "weak and old" but was actively involved in interfaith projects.

"They couldn't do anything because the men were armed with weapons. They pleaded but the men still took Father Michael. We are praying for his safety," the AFP news agency quoted the unnamed woman as saying.

"Father Sinnott is a good man. We don't know why he was kidnapped."

Abu Sayyaf is one of the smallest but deadliest militant groups in the largely Roman Catholic Philippines.

Established in the early 1990s, it has kidnapped dozens of foreign aid workers, missionaries and tourists in the south.

It was blamed for the country's most deadly bomb attacks, on a ferry in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

Philippine mudslides, floods kill estimated 100

By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines – Dozens of landslides in the rain-soaked mountains of the northern Philippines killed an estimated 100 people, as a lingering storm and excess water from dams turned a portion of one province into "one big river," officials said Friday.

The latest calamity brought the death toll to more than 400 from the Philippines' worst flooding in 40 years after back-to-back storms started pounding the country's north Sept. 26.

About 100 people were feared dead in landslides in two provinces — Benguet and Mountain — along the Cordillera mountain range, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Manila, said Olive Luces, regional Office of Civil Defense director.

Landslides blocked the roads to the mountain city of Baguio in the heart of the Cordillera region and exact figures were hard to get.

"We are still accounting, but all in all our estimate is there were about 100 dead in the four major landslides," Luces said. "Retrieval operations are ongoing."

About 100 landslides have struck the region since the weekend, said Rex Manuel, another relief official.

Seventeen bodies have been recovered so far from Kibungan village in Benguet's La Trinidad township, which was almost entirely buried in mud and debris late Thursday, Manuel said. Up to 40 villagers were estimated to have died, while more than 100 were moved to safety, he said.

In Buyagan village, also in La Trinidad, only three out of about 100 houses remained visible after Thursday night's landslide buried most structures there. Some 50 residents were saved but it was not clear how many died, Manuel said.

In neighboring Mountain Province's Tadian township, at least 28 people were reported missing and several bodies were recovered after the side of a mountain collapsed.

Another landslide hit a second village in Tadian early Friday. No immediate casualty reports were available.

Forecasters said Tropical Depression Parma was still lingering off the northeastern coast for more than a week, dumping rains overnight. It was the second major storm to hit the country in two weeks.

Thousands of residents of Pangasinan province, about 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Manila, fled to rooftops and scrambled for safety after dams released excess water from recent heavy rains.

Pangasinan provincial Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias said she was getting frantic text messages from residents asking to be rescued, adding: "Eastern Pangasinan has become one big river."

Heavy rains, plus water discharged late Thursday night from a dam in Pangasinan, inundated 30 out of 46 towns along the Agno River in the coastal province, said Boots Velasco, the province's information officer.

"There was really heavy rain, so water had to be released from the dam, otherwise it would have been more dangerous," said the government's chief forecaster Nathaniel Cruz. "Even our office was flooded and our staff had to move to the rooftop. It's near the river that they were monitoring."

Heavy army trucks could not penetrate the area, and Primicias appealed for helicopters and boats to move people out of danger.

Mayor Nonato Abrenica of the Pangasinan's Villasis township said rain and water released from a nearby dam caused floods to rise quickly, isolating his town. He asked for food, water and medicines to be airlifted and for boats to rescue stranded residents.

The government's disaster relief agency said it had requested that the U.S. Embassy redeploy hundreds of American troops from the massive cleanup in and around the capital, Manila, to the flood-hit areas in the north.

Two U.S. Navy ships were positioning in the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan to provide helicopters and rubber boats for the rescue mission in the province, said U.S. Marine Capt. Jorge Escatell. ___

Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski and Oliver Teves in Manila and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Yahoo News

Fresh flooding hits Philippines after days of rain

MANILA, Philippines – Officials say fresh flooding has hit about 30 towns in the northern Philippines, sending residents fleeing to rooftops and scrambling for safety. The floods came after dams released excess water from recent heavy rains.

Pangasinan provincial Vice Governor Marlyn Premicias said Friday that she was getting frantic text messages from residents asking to be rescued. The San Roque dam released water along the Agno River on Thursday night, inundating 30 out of 46 towns in the coastal province.

Forecasters say Tropical Depression Parma is still lingering off the northeastern coast, dumping rains overnight. It's the second major storm to hit the country in two weeks. Storms and flooding have killed more than 300 people since Sept. 26.

Associated Press

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Yahoo News

"I don't want soldiers in my town (Marikina)" - Bayani Fernando

If this is true, then Mr. Bayani Fernando is not suitable to be the President.

Guys,

I want to share this story when my unit 1504th Manila & 1503rd conduct a clearing Operation in one of the Brgys in Marikina.

Around 010900H Oct 2009, 1503rd & 1504th Manila assigned in Marikina to conduct a clearing operation, when suddenly Bayani Fernando shouted to the soldiers that he doesn't want soldiers in his town. Looks like this man doesn't no what pain this soldiers get when they heard this to him.

We started to be mobilized together with the regular forces after the flood happened.

then this Bayani shouted to us like that, He doesn't realized that even one single MMDA personnel was not seen in his town.

We sacrifice our jobs and left our family to help his place then he.... Fuck!

Philippine 24-Hour Public Weather Forecast October 4,2009

Issued at: 5:00 a.m., 04 October 2009
Valid beginnning: 5:00 a.m. today until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow


Synopsis:

At 4:00 am today, Typhoon "PEPENG" {PARMA} was located based on satellite and surface data at 70 kms North of Laoag City (18.9°N 120.5°E) with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gustiness of up to 150 kph. It is forecast to move West Northwest at 9 kph.

Forecast:

Extreme Northern Luzon and the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Abra will experience stormy weather while the rest of Northern Luzon will have rains and gusty winds with moderate to rough seas. The rest of Luzon will be cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms while the rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest will prevail over the rest of the country with moderate to rough seas.

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PAGASA-DOST

Latest typhoon kills 4 in Philippines, churns away

By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines military rushed Sunday toward villages cut off by floodwaters from Asia's latest deadly storm, which killed at least four across the northern part of the country but spared the capital.

Typhoon Parma was churning through the South China Sea as troops in southern Taiwan helped to evacuate villages that could be hit next. The Central Weather Bureau said Parma should miss the island, but it could still bring heavy rain to flood- and landslide-prone areas still recovering from a deadly typhoon in August.

Tens of thousands of Filipinos fled to higher ground as Parma bore down on the main island of Luzon just eight days after an earlier storm left Manila awash in the worst flooding in four decades, killing almost 300 people.

Winds of 108 mph (175 kph) battered towns in half a dozen provinces, and downpours swelled rivers to bursting, officials said.

In Isabela province, one man drowned and another died from exposure to the cold and wet weather, said Lt. Col. Loreto Magundayao of an army division based there.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said another two people died in eastern Camarines Sur, as one man fell from a roof and a 2-year-old boy drowned.

About 14 villages at the mouth of the Cagayan River were flooded when a seawall collapsed, forcing some residents to clamber onto their roofs, the mayor of nearby Aparri town told The Associated Press.

"A few of these floods were at roof level," he said. "Some people were on roofs and some of them were evacuated last night, but the rescuers were not able to reach others immediately."

The navy was bringing rubber boats to try to rescue people still stranded, he said.

Power, phone lines and internet links were down across the north, making it difficult to get reports about the extent of damage, Armand Araneta, a civil defense official responsible for several northern provinces, told the AP.

"We really got the brunt of the wind," he said by phone from Tuguegarao city, capital of Cagayan province. "Many trees fell here. The winds knocked down cables, telephone lines — even our windows got shattered by the strong winds."

Manila escaped the worst of the storm. On Sept. 26, Tropical Storm Ketsana killed at least 288 people and damaged the homes of 3 million. Ketsana went on to kill 99 in Vietnam, 14 in Cambodia and 16 in Laos.

Parma was part of more than a week of destruction in the Asia-Pacific region: an earthquake Wednesday in Indonesia, a tsunami Tuesday in the Samoan islands, and Ketsana.

Another typhoon, Melor, was churning Sunday in the Philippine Sea, 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) to the east.

___

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves in Manila and Debby Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

Yahoo News

Philippine 24-Hour Public Weather Forecast October 3,2009

Issued at: 5:00 a.m., 03 October 2009
Valid beginning: 5:00 a.m. today until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow


Synopsis:

At 4:00 a.m., today, Typhoon "PEPENG" was located based on radar, satellite and surface data at 260 kms Southeast of Aparri, Cagayan (16.6°N 123.6°E) with maximum sustained winds of 175 kph and gustiness of up to 210 kph. It is forecast to move Northwest at 17 kph.

Forecast:

Northern Luzon will experience stormy weather while Bicol region and the Eastern section of Central Luzon will have rains and gusty winds with moderate to rough seas. The rest of Luzon will have occasional rains while Visayas and Mindanao will be mostly cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the Northwest and Southwest will prevail over the rest of Luzon and coming from the Southwest over the rest of the country. The coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough.

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PAGASA-DOST

Typhoon weakens slightly as Philippines braces

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos braced Saturday for their second typhoon in eight days, though the storm weakened just hours before it was due to hit and the threat of another disaster in the flood-soaked capital eased.

Better news for the Philippines was bad news for Taiwan, which issued a storm warning and began evacuating villages in the south as Typhoon Parma headed more sharply north toward the island.

Parma was dropping heavy rain across the Philippines' main island of Luzon on Saturday including many areas still recovering from a Sept. 26 storm that inundated large parts of Manila and killed almost 300 people.

But the storm was pushed farther north overnight Friday, and Manila was no longer at risk of a new deluge, said chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz. The storm's sustained winds also eased slightly, to 108 mph (175 kph), down from 121 mph (195 kph) on Friday.

"It is good news, especially for those whose houses are still under water," Cruz said at a briefing Saturday morning. "But 175 (kph winds) can still uproot trees and destroy houses and blown down roofs."

Parma was due to strike the Philippines' northeastern tip on Saturday night, instead of hitting north-central Luzon on Saturday afternoon, as earlier forecast.

The danger was easing in provinces south of the capital. In Albay province, governor Joey Salceda said he had ordered more than 76,000 people who had been evacuated from their homes in the past few days to be sent home.

Tens of thousands of others were still huddled in relief shelters or with friends after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered people in flood- and landslide-prone areas in six provinces to be evacuated.

A nationwide "state of calamity" ordered by Arroyo was still in place, designed to let authorities respond quickly if another disaster occurs.

Typhoon Ketsana on Sept. 26 caused the worst flooding in 40 years across the northern Philippines, damaging the homes of more than 2 million people. The Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council on Saturday lowered the death toll from the Ketsana storm by five to 288.

Ketsana went on to hit other Southeast Asian countries, killing 99 in Vietnam, 14 in Cambodia and 16 in Laos.

It was part of more than a week of destruction in the Asia-Pacific region that has claimed more than 1,500 lives so far: an earthquake Wednesday in Indonesia; a tsunami Tuesday in the Samoan islands; and Typhoon Ketsana across Southeast Asia.

Many places in Manila are still chest-deep in water, or covered in thick mud and garbage.

In Quezon City, residents turned from cleaning up after Ketsana to trying to secure their belongings from the risk of more flooding.

"We do not know what to do or where we can go," said resident Bebang De Los Santos. "We don't have a way out and this is the only place that is safe, but we don't have any shelter."

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau issued a storm warning for Parma on Saturday. This prompted officials to start evacuating villages in the southern county of Kaohsiung, where a typhoon in August triggered flash flooding that killed about 700, said local official Lin Chun-chieh.

One danger in Manila was posed by Lake Laguna, which rose more than 3.3 feet (one meter) as Ketsana passed and was in danger of spilling over into districts housing some 100,000 people if there is much more rain, said Ed Manda, general manager of the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

___

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves in Manila and Debby Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

link here

Philippine 24-Hour Public Weather Forecast October 1,2009

Issued at: 5:00 a.m., 01 October 2009
Valid beginning: 5:00 a.m. today until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow




Synopsis:

At 4:00 a.m. today, Typhoon "PEPENG" {PARMA} was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 650 kms East of Borongan, Eastern Samar (11.5°N, 132.1°E) with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph and gustiness of up to 185 kph. It is forecast to move West Northwest at 24 kph.

Forecast:

The eastern section of the country will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming widespread rains over Bicol region which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. The rest of Visayas and Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of Luzon will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast to northwest will prevail over Eastern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and coming from the southwest and south over the rest of the country. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be moderate to rough.