Gener enters Philippine as Ferdie exits

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Gener (international name Malakas) entered the Philippine area of responsibility yesterday as Ferdie (Meranti), which battered provinces in Northern Luzon, left the country.    

Ferdie made landfall over Itbayat, Batanes at 2 a.m. yesterday with maximum sustained winds of 220 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of 255 kph.

The province was placed under signal No. 4 on Tuesday afternoon.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of Ferdie was located 400 kilometers northwest of Basco, Batanes, packing winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph.

Ferdie was forecast to move northwest toward Taiwan at 20 kph.

Weathermen warned the public against venturing into the waters of Batanes, Calayan, Babuyan; northern coast of Calayan, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur due to huge waves generated by the enhanced monsoon.

Ferdie was still expected to bring moderate to heavy rains in areas within its 66-kilometer diameter.

Ferdie was expected to continue to bring rains over extreme Northern Luzon until yesterday afternoon or early today, according to Esperanza Cayanan, weather division chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Cayanan said Ferdie enhanced the southwest monsoon, which dumped moderate rains over the western section of the country, including Metro Manila yesterday.

Meanwhile, Gener was located 1,035 km east of Casiguran, Aurora as of 4 p.m. yesterday, packing winds of 130 kph and gustiness of up to 160 kph. It was moving northwest at 25 kph.

Latest weather forecast showed Gener is unlikely to hit land and was projected to be closest to Batanes tomorrow morning.

The typhoon, Cayanan said, could enhance the southwest monsoon, which will bring light to moderate rains over Luzon, including Metro Manila, and Western Visayas in the next few days.

“As of this time we don’t expect Gener to make landfall. We expect it to re-curve toward Southern Japan,” Cayanan told journalists.

No tropical cyclone warning signal had been raised as of yesterday afternoon under Gener.

The weather disturbance is expected to exit the Philippines on Saturday.  

PAGASA is also closely monitoring another low-pressure area east of the country, although it was still to far to affect the Philippines.

Ferdie cancels flights, classes, work.

Four international and six domestic flights were canceled due to bad weather. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rainier Allan Ronda, Rudy Santos, Victor Martin, Jack Castaño, Raymund Catindig