‘Amang’ makes landfall in Camarines

(UPDATE) TROPICAL depression “Amang” made landfall in the vicinity of Lagonoy town in Camarines Sur province, the weather bureau said on Wednesday.

Amang made its first landfall in Catanduanes at night time on April 11 and its second landfall on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Presentacion town in Camarines Sur, all in Bicol Region.

In a 5 p.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the tropical depression will likely track north-westward in the next 12 hours and is expected to pass over the eastern localities in Camarines Sur, Lamon Bay and Quezon.

Signal No. 1 remains up over Catanduanes, Sorsogon (City of Sorsogon, Pilar, Castilla, Donsol and Prieto Diaz), Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Laguna (Cavinti, Lumban, Kalayaan, Paete, Pakil, Pangil, Siniloan, Famy, Santa Maria and Mabitac), Aurora, Quezon (Buenavista, Calauag, Infanta, Lopez, Guinayangan, Plaridel, Quezon, Alabat, Sampaloc, Mauban, General Nakar, Perez, Gumaca, Atimonan, Real, Tagkawayan and San Narciso) including Polillo Islands, Rizal (Tanay, Pililla, Rodriguez, Baras and City of Antipolo), Bulacan (Norzagaray and Do?a Remedios Trinidad) and Nueva Ecija (Gabaldon, Bongabon, Laur and General Tinio) in Luzon.

Based on Pagasa’s forecast track, Amang may weaken into a low pressure area by Thursday, possibly earlier, due to the combined effects of land interaction, dry air intrusion and increasing vertical wind shear.

Estimated to be in the vicinity of Lagonoy town, the tropical depression is moving northwestward slowly with maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 55 kph, Pagasa said.

Under these conditions, Pagasa said isolated flash floods and rain-induced landslides are possible, especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards.

Moderate to rough seas may be experienced over the eastern and southern seaboards of Southern Luzon and the eastern seaboard of Central Luzon over the next 24 hours.

Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley, the rest of Central Luzon, the rest of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Aklan, Capiz and Antique were also affected by “Amang,” which brought overcast skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) advised farmers and fisherfolk to prepare for the impact of “Amang”.

According to the DA’s bulletin on Amang, the department’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) Operations Center said that farmers should harvest matured crops and utilize postharvest facilities as a measure to mitigate the impact of the tropical depression.

DA-DRRM also advised that farm inputs like seed reserves, feeds and water should be secured by farmers and stock raisers as well as to relocate animals and machinery to a higher and safer place.

It also said that clearing irrigation’s drainage from any obstruction could help prevent flooding.

“Moreover, fisherfolk are advised to perform early harvest and mobilize postharvest equipment and facilities; secure fishing vessels in higher ground and dismiss sea travel as potentially rough conditions prevail over affected seaboards,” the DA-DRRM said.

“Heavy to intense rain is expected over Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Quezon provinces,” it added.

The risk and management office also said that the area of standing crops that may be affected totals to 632,706 hectares with 602,728 hectares for rice and 29,978 hectares for corn.

Power system operator and transmission service provider National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday said they had implemented the necessary preparations and precautions to minimize the impact of Amang on transmission operations and facilities.

In a statement, the NGCP said that among the preparations include ensuring the reliability of communications equipment, availability of hardware materials and supplies necessary for the repair of damage to facilities, as well as the positioning of line crews in strategic areas to facilitate immediate restoration work.

“[Our] Integrated Disaster Action Plan prescribes these and other procedures to ensure the readiness of all power transmission facilities expected to be affected by the passage of the weather disturbance,” the NGCP said.

WITH REPORTS FROM JANINE ALEXIX MIGUEL AND FRANCIS EARL CUETO