Kiko exits; death toll rises to 21

MANILA, Philippines - Tropical storm “Kiko” (international name Morakot) accelerated yesterday as it continued to move away from the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said improved weather condition would prevail over most parts of the country this week aside from isolated rainshowers.

Pagasa said Kiko would continue to enhance the southwest monsoon that would bring occasional to frequent rains over extreme northern Luzon in the next few days.

Pagasa said Batanes and the Babuyan Group of Islands would still experience rains and gusty winds and the coastal waters over these areas would be rough to very rough.

Meanwhile, the rest of Luzon would have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. While the rest of the country would be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

As of 10 a.m. yesterday, Kiko was spotted some 580 kilometers north-northwest of Basco, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers near the center and gustiness of up to 140 kph.

Kiko is forecast to move north-northwest at 15 kph. It was expected to be 700 kms north-northwest of Basco or over Southeastern China yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, Nilo said the low pressure area (LPA) spotted east of northern Luzon is likely to move to southern Japan and would not intensify the southwest monsoon.

An LPA is commonly associated with bad weather. A tropical cyclone, if on sea, can be formed in such condition.

Pagasa said moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest would persist over the rest of Luzon and the Visayas with moderate to rough seas.

Light to moderate winds blowing from the southwest, meanwhile, would prevail over Mindanao with slight to moderate seas.

Pagasa said the western and eastern seaboards of Luzon and the western seaboard of Visayas would have rough to very rough seas due to the surge of the southwest monsoon.

“Fishing boats and other small seacraft are advised not to venture out to sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves,” it said.

Kiko was the 11th tropical cyclone to enter the country this year.

Death toll rose to 21

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported that the death toll rose to 21, with three more fatalities added as of Saturday night.

In a bulletin, the NDCC said two of the fatalities were from the landslide in Baguio City and the third was from Mandaluyong, who died of drowning.

Their identities are yet to be identified.

Thirteen of the fatalities were from Baguio City.

The agency also said 18 persons were injured in landslides and floods.

Search and retrieval operations for the trapped ball mill workers in Baguio City have resumed after being temporarily suspended due to the incessant downpour that might cause another landslide.

Seven persons are still reported missing as of press time, one in Barangay Pogo in Bautista, Pangasinan and the other six in Kias, Baguio City.

The agency said the estimated cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture in Benguet, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces was placed at P35,884,700.00.

Major dams in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos and Central Luzon have also exceeded their respective spilling levels, the NDCC said.

A total of 8,342 persons are still in evacuation centers in the affected areas.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman said their disaster rescue and relief units in Northern Luzon and Western Mindanao remain on alert for any eventuality due to the onslaught of typhoon Kiko.

“Aside from the rescue operations, the AFP is involved heavily on the rehabilitation effort. Dahil kung may ganitong mga kalamidad ay hindi lamang pag-rescue ng ating mga kababayan, ‘yung pag-distribute ng relief goods, but of course we have to rehabilitate the area so that our people can go back to their respective normal lives,” he said. – With James Mananghaya