'Domeng' moves away; another low pressure area spotted

MANILA, Philippines - Tropical depression “Domeng” continued to move away from the country yesterday but weather forecasters said a new weather disturbance may likely form east of Luzon within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Robert Sawi, senior weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said Domeng was expected to move out of the country yesterday.

However, he said a low pressure area was expected to intensify into a tropical cyclone in the next two days.

Once the LPA develops into a tropical cyclone, Sawi said it will be named “Ester.”

Sawi said rains would continue to prevail over the country in the next two to three days due to the enhanced southwest monsoon or hanging habagat.

He again warned the public of possible flooding particularly in Metro Manila.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of Domeng was spotted some 140 kilometers northwest of Laoag City, packing winds of 45 kilometers per hour near the center.

Domeng was forecast to move west at 19 kph. Pagasa lifted all public storm warning signals yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the LPA was located some 930 km east of Northern Luzon yesterday afternoon.

Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said the LPA is expected to gain strength while over the Pacific Ocean.

He said the new weather disturbance would likely follow the path of Domeng which is Northern Luzon, the usual track of tropical cyclones during August.

NDCC website hacked

In a related development, the website of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) was hacked at a time when updates on Domeng were being monitored.

NDCC Executive Officer Benito Ramos said their website (www.ndcc.gov.ph <http://www.ndcc.gov.ph/>) experienced technical problems at around 6 a.m. yesterday.

“Our site has been hacked and I have been complaining about it. Help me catch the hacker and I will hang him in front of Rizal’s monument in Luneta,” Ramos said in jest.

Instead of the normal page which contains reports on storms and other disasters, the NDCC homepage yesterday displayed a photo of a lady wearing a Yankees sweat shirt and holding a gun.

Placed below the photo, which seems to have been lifted from an action film, is a text which read “Down by xTerror.” The homepage also contained the e-mail address [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>, which is believed to be owned by the hacker.

The site went back to normal at around 3 p.m. but was placed under preventive maintenance at around 3:40 p.m.

Ramos admitted that the incident disrupted the issuance of warnings to people in areas affected by the storm.

“My reporting was affected so I am asking my staff to fast-track the recovery of the site,” Ramos said. 

“I am not the only one who will suffer. All the Filipinos will suffer because of this (hacking),” he added.

Ramos believes that the hacking was done by an idle young person who knows something about technology.

“That person is mischievous,” he said, adding that efforts are being made to identify the hacker.

Ramos urged the hackers to spare the NDCC which performs a very crucial role in times of calamities.

“I hope they would not hack the NDCC (site). We are saving lives and property,” he said. – With Alexis Romero