(Eagle News) – Typhoon Ompong even intensified with winds of up to 330 kilometers per hour, as it barrels through Cagayan, moving west northwest at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour, heading towards Ilocos Norte and Apayao.
As of 4 a.m., the eye of typhoon Ompong was located in the vicinity of Baggao, Cagayan.
It has maximum sustained winds of 20 kph near the center and gusts of up to 330 kph surpassing that of supertyphoon Haiyan’s winds of 315 kph.
PAGASA, in a press briefing, expects typhoon Ompong to exit the landmass between 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. It further expects “Ompong” to weaken while it is over land.
But it stressed that typhoon Ompong is so large with a diameter of 900 kilometers that even if its eye passes through Cagayan this morning, its very strong 205 kph to 330 kph winds can still whip the area until Saturday night, Sept. 15. Ompong’s diameter of 900 kilometers, with a radius of 450 kilometers, is even larger than supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) of November 2013 which has a diameter of 600 kilometers.
The country’s weather bureau, PAGASA, placed Ilocos Norte, Northern Isabela, Cagayan including Babuyan Group of Islands. Apayao, Abra and Kalinga under tropical cyclone warning signal number 4, where winds of speeds 171 kph up to 220 kph may be expected in at least 12 hours.
Possible Storm surge height in surge prone areas are up to 6 meters in Cagayan and Ilocos Norte; up to 3 meters in Isabela; and up to 2 meters in Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan, according to PAGASA.
PAGASA said “catastrophic” storm surges are expected in the following low-lying municipalities in Cagayan: Abulug, Aparri, Baggao, Ballesteros, Buguey, Calayan, Claveria, Gattaran, Gonzaga, Lal-Lo, Pamplona, Peñablanca, Sanchez-Mira, Santa Ana, Santa Praxedes, Santa Teresita, Babuyan Islands
Life-threatening and extensive inundation from rising sea water moving inland from the shoreline is expected, said PAGASA.
PAGASA placed the following areas in Luzon were placed under TCWS no. 3: Batanes, Ilocos Sur, southern Isabela, La Union, Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, northern Aurora,
Meanwhile these areas in Luzon were under TCWS no. 2: Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, southern Aurora, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Northern Quezon incl. Polillo Is.
Metro Manila, Rizal and eight other areas in Luzon were placed under TCWS no. 1. The other areas under signal number one are Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, rest of Quezon, Lubang Island, Marinduque and Camarines Norte.
PAGASA said that Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) enhanced by the typhoon will bring gusty winds with occasional moderate to heavy rains over Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, ARMM, and the rest of MIMAROPA and Bicol Region while scattered light to moderate to at times heavy rains over Eastern and Central Visayas.
Residents in these areas, especially those living near river channels, in low-lying areas and in mountainous areas, are advised to take appropriate actions against possible flooding and landslides, coordinate with local disaster risk reduction and management offices, and to continue monitoring for updates, PAGASA’s latest advisory said.
