‘Hanna’ weakens but still poses threats due to monsoon

By LITO RULONA
and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents

TYPHOON “Hanna” slightly weakened yesterday as it moved closer to the Batanes area but it has continued to enhance the Southwest monsoon that has been bringing destructive rains in Mindanao.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services (Pagasa) said the typhoon’s maximum sustained winds weakened from 195 kilometers per hour on Wednesday to 175 kph near the center yesterday. Its gustiness was 230 kph on Wednesday; yesterday, it was 210 kph.

Pagasa forecast that the typhoon would continue moving west northwest at 20 kph without making a landfall in any part of the country, and it would likely to exit the Philippine area towards Taiwan and China by Saturday.

Ana Cañeda, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said the rains have so far displaced some 1,085 people or 426 families in Valencia City, Bukidnon alone.

Cañeda also said the floodings in Bukidnon on Tuesday also resulted in the seven deaths. Two are missing at presstime, she said.

Cañeda said the victims––Baby Rose Batistil, 9, Dalla Mae Luzano, 7, Jelove Badoy, 6, six-month old Gina Eroisa, Jhon Francis Eroisa, Epefanio Canyamu, and Virgilio Telin––drowned in the floodwaters. The missing are Bobsky Batisil and Eddie Eroisa. Some of the victims were children.

The OCD said the Valencia floods destroyed 41 houses and damaged 36 others. Cañeda said the OCD also counted 880 people who were forced to evacuate to the Valencia gymnasium. The OCD report however released no data on the damages caused by the heavy rains in Malaybalay, Bukidnon’s capital city.

Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri said the floodings took place in Valencia and Malaybalay cities on Tuesday as a result of continuous heavy rains that started at around noontime. In an earlier interview with this paper, Zubiri said he “has never seen rain pour like this” in Bukidnon.

Jun Rey Valero of the Valencia City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council told local radio yesterday that they recovered the bodies, and they were still searching for the two missing people.

Valero said the worst hit villages in Valencia are Bagontaas, Guinoyoran, Poblacion, Sugod and Tugaya. He said local authorities told many villagers to flee “pero gahi man kaayo og ulo, dili man mopatuo hangtud nga naabutan sa baha.”

Valencia Mayor Azucena Cuervas told Radio Mindanao Network many of the affected families were already relocated to a safer place but insisted on returning to the danger zones despite city hall’s warnings.

City officials were contemplting on declaring a state of calamity in Valencia so the local government could release money from its calamity fund.

“Actually some of the areas affected were elevated pero during sa flashflood kalit kaayo ang tubig nga gikan sa ibabaw nga bahin. Wala naka-focus among attention ani nga area kay elevated man mao man hinoun ang naigo sa flashflood. We were focusing on areas near Pulangi River,” Cuervas told local radio.

Pagasa weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said the monsoon rains would likely continue and cause flashfloods and landslides Mindanao, Palawan, and some areas in the Visayas.

Aurelio said a gale warning has been issued due to the effects of the southwest monsoon and the typhoon. Sea conditions would be rough to very rough due to strong to gale force winds in the seaboards Mindanao and Visayas, and the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon. (with reports from pna)