'Betty' leaves PAR
MANILA, Philippines — Severe Tropical Storm Betty exited the Philippine area of responsibility on Thursday afternoon, state weather bureau PAGASA said.
In its 5:00 p.m. bulletin, PAGASA said Betty was last spotted at 685 km northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near center and gustiness of up to 115 kph.
Betty continues to weaken and may be downgraded to tropical storm category on Saturday. It is moving north northeastward at 15 kph.
While outside Philippine jurisdiction, Betty is forecasted to continue to gradually accelerate northeastward until Friday morning before it turns east northeastward over the waters near the Ryukyu islands in Japan.
PAGASA said that the storm may hit land or pass very close to Okinawa on Thursday night or Friday morning.
What to expect
“As Betty continues to move away from the country, the southwest monsoon [habagat] will become the dominant rain-causing system in the country within the day,” the bulletin read.
State weather forecasters warned that flooding and rain-induced landslides are possible, especially in areas highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards.
PAGASA also said that in the next 24 hours, the enhanced southwest monsoon will bring occasional to frequent wind gusts over the following areas:
- Northern Cagayan including Babuyan islands
- Ilocos region
- Cordillera Administrative Region
- Central Luzon
- Metro Manila
- Calabarzon
- Bicol region
- Mimaropa
- Western Visayas
- Northern Samar
- Northern portion of Samar
PAGASA said that a marine gale warning remains in effect over the northern seaboards of northern Luzon, the eastern seaboard of Luzon and the western seaboard of southern Luzon.
Latest report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed that Betty has affected 30,506 persons in six regions across the country. Nearly 6,000 were pre-emptively evacuated.
Betty is the country’s second cyclone this year.
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