Weather to improve as Henry exits

MANILA, Philippines — Weather in Northern Luzon is expected to improve in the next three days after Typhoon Henry (international name Hinnamnor) finally exited the Philippine area of responsibility early yesterday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Metro Manila could also expected fair weather starting today until Wednesday, with temperatures ranging from 25 to 31 degrees Celsius.

In a three-day weather forecast, PAGASA said the National Capital Region would generally experience fair weather with partly cloudy to cloudy skies and chances of isolated rains and thunderstorms.

Baguio City will have a little more rain today, but the weather will improve tomorrow and on Wednesday, with temperatures ranging from 16 to 21 degrees Celsius.

The Bicol region will likewise have fair weather conditions while Cebu will have some rain today and tomorrow but better weather by Wednesday, according to the state weather bureau.

The Davao region will experience some rains today, but the weather will improve tomorrow all the way to Wednesday.

PAGASA said Henry left the Philippine area at around 1:40 a.m. yesterday and headed generally north toward the East China Sea.

1 dead in Ilocos

Meanwhile, Henry left at least one reported casualty in the Ilocos as the once super typhoon left the Philippines.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said details of the fatality were still being gathered and validated as of last night.

Based on official reports, Henry left no injuries and no missing persons despite flooding and landslide incidents in affected Northern Luzon provinces.

The NDRRMC clarified that the casualty reported earlier in Ifugao was due to localized thunderstorms.

As of yesterday, only 60 families or 149 individuals remain housed at an evacuation center also in the Ilocos where their primary needs are being provided.

The NDRRMC has yet to report if Henry caused damage to agriculture, infrastructure and other property in affected Northern Luzon provinces.

Philippines-US search, rescue drill moved

In a related development, Henry forced the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to move to another location for their joint search and rescue exercise (SAR) from Zambales to Bataan.

In a statement issued yesterday, the PCG said that while the planned two-day joint SAR exercise pushed through as scheduled last Friday and Saturday, they had to relocate to Mariveles, Bataan.

“For information, due to Typhoon ‘Henry,’ the PCG-USCG’s joint SAR exercise was conducted 40 miles off Luzon Point in Mariveles, Bataan and not in the vicinity of Subic, Zambales based on the exercise plan,” the PCG’s Public Information Office said.

During the exercise, the USCG also failed to release its drone and the PCG was unable to dispatch its helicopter for the air phase demonstration because of heavy rains and strong winds brought about by the typhoon.

Despite the bad weather, however, the two PCG ships – the 83-meter offshore patrol vessel Gabriela Silang and Melchora Aquino – and the USCG’s cutter Midgett were able to sail and perform the sea phase of the SAR exercise.

The two-day sea drills involved communication exercises, maneuvering drills, photo exercises, decoding messages through flag hoisting, flashing exercises, publication exercises, small boat operations, boarding operations, SAR exercises and medical assistance, according to the PCG.

During the second day of the joint exercise, the Gabriela Silang responded to a distress call from a simulated cargo vessel Melchora Aquino and the USCG’s Midgett, transiting in the vicinity, was requested to render assistance.

The Gabriela Silang then deployed its rigid-hulled inflatable boat to rescue the remaining survivors out of the water and turn them over for medical assessment.

While underway, participating PCG vessels also performed their regular anti-piracy exercise.

Two teams of the PCG’s Law Enforcement Afloat Detachment (LEAD) enacted evidence preservation, investigation and case build-up to establish the offenders’ orderly prosecution and conviction.

Piracy is a high sea and universal crime where cooperation among coast guard counterparts is crucial to achieving success, according to PCG Commandant Adm. Artemio Abu.

Hence, members of the PCG-LEAD teams trained with the help of the USCG, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and Japan Coast Guard to ensure the proper execution of visit, board, search and seizure during anti-piracy operations.

During the arrival of the Midgett last Tuesday, Coast Guard Fleet Commander CG Rear Adm. Charlie Rances emphasized that the PCG-USCG joint SAR exercise aimed to address maritime safety challenges by assessing the PCG’s and USCG’s capabilities for information exchange and interoperability at sea among participating units, surface and air assets.

For US Ambassador MaryKay Loss Carlson, the mission also intended to contribute toward attaining a connected, open and secure Indo-Pacific. – Evelyn Macairan