‘SANTI’ HEADING OUT

TO SOUTH CHINA SEA

Written by DATELINE PHILIPPINES

31 October 2009 14:30

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon “Santi” (Mirinae) began to head toward the South China Sea early Saturday morning after sweeping through Southern Luzon and Metro Manila, causing power failures and floods but relatively few casualties.

Late Saturday morning, the typhoon, packing winds of 120 kilometers per hour, with gusts of up to 150 kph, was 120 kilometers west southwest of Metro Manila and was heading away at 22 kph. 

Santi is expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility by Sunday morning and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecast improved weather for the commemoration of All Saints’ Day on Sunday.

The weather bureau raised public storm warning signal No. 3, meaning winds of 100-185 kph can be expected, over Lubang Island and northern Mindoro.

Signal No. 2, or winds of 60-100 kph, was up over Metro Manila, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, the rest of Mindoro and the Calamian group of islands, while Signal No. 1 (30-60 kph winds), was raised over Zambales, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Quezon, Marinduque, and northern Palawan.

Power outages hit parts of Metro Manila and Southern Luzon late Friday night and Saturday morning. The power outage in Metro Manila shut down Line 1 of the Light Rail Transit, which plies the Monumento to Baclaran route, Saturday morning but the trains began rolling shortly after noon. 

Police said an old woman and a child died in a flashflood that hit Barangay Sampaloc in Pagsanjan, Laguna early Saturday while a man and his child were missing when their car was swept away by river currents when a bridge collapsed in Batangas City. The man’s wife was rescued.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) also reported one man missing in Barangay Cupang, Muntinlupa City, after his creek-side shanty was swept away. The missing man’s two children were rescued by responding firemen.

In Calauag, Quezon, a rescue group saved 20 fishermen in Barangay Tinigban while police rescued five persons on a barge in Barangay Cuyab, San Pedro, Laguna.

The NDCC said 23,101 families, or 115,507 persons, were housed in 251 evacuation centers in Metro Manila and Regions 4-A and 5 as a preemptive measure a day before Santi struck.

But it also reported that in Calamba City, the local disaster response center had to forcible evacuate 200 families from Barangay Lingga.

The NDCC said floods struck several areas in Pasay City, Navotas, Manila and Parañaque in Metro Manila.

Santi also left 8,567 passengers, 411 trucks, 110 cars, and 82 passenger buses stranded in several ports as sea travel was suspended. The NDCC said 15 ships and 13 banca (motorized outrigger canoes) were prevented from sailing while 61 other vessels and 48 banca sought shelter from the storm.

Philippine Airlines, which had cancelled more than 50 domestic and international flights Friday night and Saturday morning, and evacuated aircraft from Manila to escape the storm, said late Saturday morning that it was “gradually resuming operations starting with the arrival of flights from Los Angeles, Seoul and Singapore starting at noon.”

The flag carrier also said it had recalled all aircraft and will dispatch these to replace the cancelled flights.

PAL said passengers with confirmed tickets for October 30, 31 and November 1 whose flights were among those cancelled may rebook for the next available flight without incurring any rebooking penalty through PAL's 24-hour Reservations – 855-8888 and 855-9999, any PAL ticket office, or by logging on to philippineairlines.com. (with a report from Anthony Vargas)