The northern and eastern portions of Batanes covering the towns of Itbayat and Basco were placed under tropical cyclone wind signal (TCWS) no. 5 late Wednesday evening after Super Typhoon ‘Leon’ became “violent” while moving closer to extreme northern Luzon.
In its 11:00 p.m. advisory, PAGASA warned of widespread damage to high-risk structures and disruptions to electricity and communication services, among other challenges, under the present circumstances.
“Within the next 48 hours, there is a high risk of life-threatening storm surge with peak heights exceeding 3.0 [meters] above normal tide levels over the low-lying or exposed coastal localities of Batanes and Babuyan Islands,” according to the state weather bureau.
PAGASA said ‘Leon’ is forecast to move northwestward over the Philippine Sea until it makes a landfall along the eastern coast of Taiwan by Thursday afternoon. A second landfall over mainland China is also possible in the coming days.
The weather agency is also not ruling out its landfall in Batanes, warning that ‘Leon’ will be at its “peak intensity” during its closest point of approach to the province. The eye of the super typhoon was last spotted at 140 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes.
PAGASA said the rest of Batanes remain under TCWS no. 4 while the eastern portion of Babuyan Islands and the northeastern portion of mainland Cagayan (Santa Ana) were under TCWS no. 3. Wind signals were also raised in the following areas of Luzon:
- TCWS No. 2 – The rest of Babuyan Islands, the rest of mainland Cagayan, the northern portion of Isabela (Santo Tomas, Santa Maria, Quezon, Delfin Albano, San Pablo, Ilagan City, Tumauini, Cabagan, Palanan, Quirino, Divilacan, Mallig, Maconacon), Apayao, the northern portion of Kalinga (City of Tabuk, Balbalan, Pinukpuk, Rizal), the northern portion of Abra (Tineg, Lacub, Malibcong), and Ilocos Norte
- TCWS No. 1 – The rest of Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, the rest of Abra, the rest of Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, La Union, the northern and central portions of Pangasinan (Basista, Lingayen, Villasis, City of Alaminos, Anda, Malasiqui, Tayug, San Fabian, Mangaldan, Mapandan, Burgos, Dagupan City, Binalonan, Bolinao, Alcala, San Manuel, Sual, Umingan, Asingan, Labrador, Bani, Santo Tomas, Pozorrubio, San Quintin, Santa Maria, City of Urdaneta, Laoac, Natividad, Mabini, San Carlos City, Manaoag, Binmaley, San Jacinto, Bugallon, Agno, Calasiao, San Nicolas, Santa Barbara, Balungao, Sison, Rosales, Dasol), the northern and eastern portions of Nueva Ecija (Bongabon, Carranglan, Pantabangan, Laur, Rizal, Cuyapo, Talavera, Santo Domingo, Llanera, Science City of Muñoz, General Mamerto Natividad, San Jose City, Lupao, Talugtug, Gabaldon), and the northern and central portions of Aurora (Casiguran, Dinalungan, Baler, Maria Aurora, Dipaculao, San Luis, Dilasag)
