Pangasinan braces for Typhoon Pepito
EMERGENCY teams across Pangasinan continued to remain on alert over the weekend and in the coming days as tropical storm Pepito (international name: Man-yi) was expected to pummel through most of Luzon and parts of the Visayas starting November 16, Saturday.
Weather bureau PAGASA Forecaster Rhea Torres, in an update Thursday morning, said ‘Pepito’ was seen to reach typhoon category before making landfall in the eastern coast of southern Luzon over the weekend, and maintained its strength as it moved northwestward through Luzon, including Pangasinan.
The recent two typhoons, ‘Nika’ and ‘Ofel’, tracked the more northern areas of Luzon last week but Pangasinan officials and disaster management offices kept close watch as the San Roque Dam in San Manuel town opened on November 11 one of its gates by five meters in anticipation of heavy rains in the Upper Agno River Basin, which already prompted the opening of two gates of Ambuklao Dams and four gates of Binga Dam.
On that day, Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2 was hoisted over the northeastern part of Pangasinan, particularly San Manuel, San Nicolas, San Quintin, Natividad and Umingan, while TCWS No. 1 was hoisted over three rest of the province.
Classes were cancelled from pre-school to senior high school province-wide.
While Typhoon Nika was raging in the northeastern part of Luzon, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) warned of possible storm surge of two to three meters along the coast of the Lingayen Gulf and in the western seaboard of the province.
Both the PDRRMO and the Dagupan City DRRMO prepared for preemptive evacuation of residents in coastal areas.
Prior to this, Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez ordered a no-swimming policy at Tondaligan Park beach and fishermen were not permitted to venture into the sea.
Typhoon Nika exited through the boundary of La Union and Ilocos Sur after wreaking havoc in Cagayan, Isabela, Mountain Province, Apayao and Abra.
Typhoon Ofel, meanwhile, closely trailed Nika in a similar track. As of Friday morning, November 15, the highest TCWS level at No. 5 was hoisted over the northeastern portion of mainland Cagayan. Other areas in the northernmost patch of Luzon until Ilocos Sure were under various storm signals. (Leonardo Micua)
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