Forecast to reach typhoon category today; Signal 3 raised over Quezon
PAGASA has confirmed that ‘Aghon’ intensified into a severe tropical storm and is forecast to reach typhoon category by tomorrow afternoon and may exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Wednesday.
‘Aghon’ keeps moving northeastward slowly with a maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (km/h) near the center and gustiness of 130 km/h. and was tracked as of 5 p.m. yesterday over the coastal waters of Mauban, Quezon.
PAGASA said the storm “will continue to move towards Polillo Islands. The possibility of intensifying into a typhoon while over the sea east of Quezon is not ruled out.”
“From tomorrow through the remainder of the forecast period, ‘Aghon’ will gradually accelerate northeastward while intensifying,” the state weather bureau noted.
Based on PAGASA’s latest monitoring, the storm is moving towards Baler and Casiguran, Aurora; Tuguegarao City, Cagayan and Basco, Batanes until it reaches east northeast of extreme Northern Luzon.
Tropical Cyclone Wind (TCWS) Signal No. 3 has been hoisted for the eastern section of Quezon (Infanta, Real, Mauban) including Polillo Islands (Panukulan, Burdeos, Patnanungan, and Polillo).
The province of Aurora, parts of Quezon, Laguna, Batangas, eastern and central portions of Rizal, and the northern portion of Camarines Norte are placed under TCWS No. 2.
Areas under TCWS No. 1, meanwhile, include parts of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Cavite, the rest of Quezon, rest of Rizal, rest of Batangas, Marinduque, extreme northern portion of Romblon, the rest of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.
“Aghon” made eight landfalls while moving northwestward — May 24 in Homonhon Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 11:20 p.m.; May 25 in Giporlos, Eastern Samar at 12:40 a.m., Basiao Island, Catbalogan City, Samar at 4 a.m., Cagduyong Island, Catbalogan City, Samar at 5 a.m., Batuan, Masbate at 10:20 a.m., Masbate City, Masbate at 10:40 a.m., and Torrijos, Marinduque at 10 p.m., and on May 26 in Lucena City, Quezon at 4:30 a.m.
Heavy rains pounded the Visayas and Southern Luzon, causing flooding in some parts of Samar Island and other areas.
Meanwhile, restoration efforts have kicked off through the instigation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) along several areas affected by tropical storm Aghon.
The NGCP crew are on top of monitoring activities as well as evaluating its facilities and operations along the storm’s path.
The NGCP said in an advisory that its line crews are in the middle of inspecting its facilities as the 69-kilovolt Pitogo-Mulanay transmission line timed out at 3:15 a.m. This seriously affected the Quezon Electric Cooperative.
The said transmission line, however, soon timed in at 7:22 a.m. the same day.
“Please note that this update pertains only to the status of the transmission network. Localized disturbances may be better addressed by your distribution utility. This also does not include lines exclusively serving directly connected industrial customers,” the NGCP said.
The NGCP also said that specific cities and municipalities affected by the interruption of the transmission facility are best regulated by concerned distribution utilities, “unless the outage affects the entire franchise area.”
The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said it is better able to respond to electricity service interruptions because it’s a round-the-clock service company.
“As a 24-hour service company, we are ready to respond to these types of emergencies. Our crews are on standby to any trouble that may affect our facilities in areas that may be hit by the storm,” said vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga in a statement.