STORM LEAVES LUZON | ‘Ambo’ leaves destruction and death in the Philippines

May 17, 2020 , 10:22 AM

By Manny Mogato, News-5 Editor-at-Large

MAY 17, 2020 – A much weaker ‘Ambo’ has exited the main Luzon island on Sunday, leaving behind heavy damages on agriculture and infrastructure and killing two residents, local disaster officials said.

Internationally known as ‘Vongfong’, ‘Ambo’ was further downgraded into a tropical depression as it was estimated at 125 west northwest of Calayan islands in northern Caga province.

Packing center winds of 45 kph with gusts of up to 55 kph, ‘Ambo’ is almost stationary over Luzon straits as of 4 a.m. update from weather forecaster PAGASA.

It is expected to further weaken into a low pressure area in the next 12 to 24 hours as ‘Ambo’ makes its way out of the country by Monday morning.

It was a category 1 storm when it slammed Eastern Visayas on Thursday noon with center winds of 155 kph. It made six landfalls as it toured virus-hit Luzon from the coconut-growing Quezon province in the southern Tagalog region to the tobacco-producing Ilocos region in the north, pummeling the rice granaries of Central Luzon.

The islands of Batanes and Babuyan in the extreme northern Luzon areas will continue to experience light to moderate rain in the next 24 hours.

“Travel is risky in the northern seaboards as well, especially for small sea vessels,” PAGASA said.

Local disaster officials reported two people died and three others were injured when hit by falling debris as fierce winds fell trees and concrete walls, cut communications and power on Samar island and in the southern Luzon regions.

Tens of thousands of people have started to return home in coastal communities and mountain slopes but some low-lying areas remained flooded brought by ‘Ambo’s’ heavy rains.

The Department of Agriculture reported about 185 million worth of crops were damaged or destroyed in Samar, Bicol and southern Tagalog regions.

Corn was hardest hit with the storm affecting more than 4,600 hectares with about 13,500 metric tons worth 86 million damaged in Camarines Sur and Masbate alone. In Quezon, another 4,600 85 of rice and about 4,800 metric tons of grain were damaged valued at 85 million pesos.

The farm department said it expects more damages as reports from rice-producing central Luzon and Cagayan Valley regions come in.

The public works and highways have yet to report damages on roads, bridges and structures but local officials reported a municipal gymnasium in Eastern Visayas was destroyed by ‘Ambo’ on Thursday.

PAGASA said about 12 typhoons are expected between May and October this year.

An average of 20 typhoons pass the country every year. The most deadly and destructive was Yolanda, known internationally as Haiyan, in November 2013, killing nearly 7,000 people and leaving more than 200,000 homeless.

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