This week the Philippines was visited, sort of, by the second typhoon to form over the Pacific this year. Typhoon Surigae, which became Typhoon Bising upon crossing the country’s area of responsibility, was forecast to not likely make landfall with its main body on any island of the archipelago. However its outlying cloud systems with heavy rain and strong winds did leave a rough caress on the eastern, Pacific-facing provinces. But all through the past few days the Tropical Storm Signals never went anywhere above Number 3; and as of this Thursday Bising has begun its departure with only two areas still having Storm Signals.

According to GMA News, Typhoon Bising is now moving to the north by northeast away from the Philippines after lashing several provinces with rainfall and winds strong enough to push a cargo ship to run aground in Surigao Del Norte back in Monday, April 19. As of 11 A.M. this Thursday, April 22, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issued a bulletin that lifted all Tropical Storm Signals in the country except for Batanes province and northeastern Cagayan province. Even then, their Storm Signals are Number 1 and will likely come down with the next weather bulletin.

The PAGASA forecast track sees Bising shifting from north-northeast direction to a more northeast angle as the day goes on and the typhoon moves away from Luzon. Come Friday, April 23, the direction will shift more to east-northeast and by the weekend it will be moving generally eastward. As for the Signal Number 1 areas, the national weather bureau advises 36 more hours of winds at speeds of 30-60 km/h. PAGASA also notes that, as Bising moves to colder Pacific waters it will weaken by Friday from typhoon into a severe tropical storm, then just a tropical storm by Saturday.

In a post-typhoon report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) notes that three people have been confirmed killed and one missing during the course of Typhoon Bising’s passage. The three casualties died on account of having heavy objects knocked over by the storm falling on them, mainly trees. Total affected Filipinos in the typhoon-battered regions of Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Caraga, run up to 59, 098 households or 229,829 individuals, plus 1,022 damaged houses. The Department of Agriculture chime in that P45.93 million in crops was ruined by the tenure of Bising.

Image courtesy of Philnews.PH

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