Not unusual? ‘Marce,’ ‘Nika,’ ‘Ofel,’ ‘Pepito’ also hit PH in 2020
Eight people died as Super Typhoon “Pepito” barreled across Luzon over the weekend before it left the Philippine area of responsibility Monday afternoon.
Seven people – including an 8-year-old child – died and three were injured when a landslide buried their house in Nueva Vizcaya province in Luzon, Christian Sevilla, from the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office told dzBB.
Sevilla said all the victims were members of the same family after heavy rains caused their house at Sitio Hukhukyong in Barangay Labang to collapse.
A 79-year-old man was also killed in Camarines Norte after his motorbike was caught in a power line, police said.
“Pepito” was the sixth storm to hit the country in a span of three weeks, and the fourth to simultaneously hit the area after “Marce,” “Nika,” and “Ofel.”
The state weather bureau, however, said there was “nothing unusual” about the four tropical cyclones in response to a recent observation made by the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
“The four tropical cyclones in our Philippine area of responsibility [were] due to the La Niña-like condition,” said Juanito Galang, PAGASA’s weather division chief.
While the four cyclones may not have been unusual, Galang admitted the same thing also happened four years ago – and oddly enough, with the same set of storm names.
Based on PAGASA’s annual report on Philippine tropical cyclones in 2020, then Severe Tropical Storm “Marce” developed on September 19, 2020, followed by Tropical Storm Nika on October 11; Tropical Depression Ofel on October 13; and Typhoon Pepito on October 18.
According to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the government will continue with rescue and relief efforts in the aftermath of the super typhoon.
“Though Pepito was strong, the impact wasn’t as bad as we feared,” Mr. Marcos said.
“We will now carry on with the rescue of those (in) isolated areas and the continuing relief for those who are, who have been displaced and have no means to prepare their own meals and have no water supplies,” the President added.
Filipinos cleared fallen trees and repaired damaged houses on Monday after “Pepito” smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power, uprooted trees, and triggered landslides.
Power outages across the island province of Catanduanes could last for months after “Pepito” toppled electricity poles, provincial information officer Camille Gianan told Agence France Presse.
“Catanduanes has been heavily damaged by that typhoon—we need food packs, hygiene kits and construction materials…Most houses with light materials were flattened while some houses made of concrete had their roofs, doors and windows destroyed.”
In the coastal town of Baler in Aurora province, clean-up operations were underway to remove felled trees and debris blocking roads and waterways.
“Most of the houses here are made of light materials so even now, before the inspection, we are expecting heavy damage on many houses in town,” disaster officer Neil Rojo said.
As people cleaned up on Monday, floods began hitting communities in the north after water from Magat Dam was released, causing the Cagayan river and some tributaries to overflow.
Rooftops could be seen poking through brown water in Ilagan city in Isabela province while buildings and roads near Tuguegarao city in Cagayan province were inundated.
“If Magat Dam continues to release water on all of its seven gates, Ilagan city might get erased from the map due to flooding,” said Jun Montereal, chairman of the city’s disaster preparedness committee, estimating 500 houses had been flooded.
“This is one of the gravest incidents that we have ever experienced because of the typhoon.”
Carlo Ablan, who helps oversee operations at the dam, said water was released after a “huge volume” of inflows due to rain from “Pepito.”
“If we won’t be releasing water, the worst possible scenario will be our dam would collapse and that will be a much bigger problem,” Ablan said. With AFP
