‘Basyang’ leaves with 68 fatalities, P188-M damages to infrastructure, agriculture

by | Jul 20, 2010 | Headlines, National News, Weather Coverage

RESCUERS retrieved three more bodies from the sea on Sunday, raising the death toll from tropical storm Basyang (international name: Conson) to 68, but more bad weather was hampering search operations.

Damage to farm, infrastructure and private property rose to P188 million on Sunday from P22.3 million last Friday, according to a report released by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at 5:00 a.m. Sunday.

Benito T. Ramos, chief of the Office of Civil Defense and executive director of the NDCC said rescuers, including volunteers and troops, continued to scour coastal areas in the country’s southeastern seaboard on Sunday, where the majority of the 84 still missing from a sunken fishing vessel were reported.

However, he said fresh rains brought on by a new weather disturbance east of the main island of Luzon were hampering search and rescue operations. State weather forecasters however said it was unlikely to develop into a full-blown storm.

Basyang slammed into the country on Tuesday, directly hitting the capital Manila as it cut westward into the South China Sea with a ferocity that caught weather forecasters by surprise. (PIA-Bohol)

Basyang leaves RP, heads for China

by | Jul 15, 2010 | Headlines, National News, Weather Coverage

AS predicted by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), typhoon Basyang has left the Philippine area of responsibility Thursday morning.

The weather forecasters’ last weather bulletin on Basyang (international name Conson) reported that the typhoon was 400 kilometers west-northwest of Dagupan City as of 5:00 a.m. Thursday.

PAGASA says, “”Tropical Storm Conson has left the Philippine area of responsibility and threatens Hainan Island in China.”

Before leaving the country, Basyang was moving at a speed of 19 kilometers per hour, packing maximum winds of 85 kph and gustiness of up to 100 kph.

The government reported 23 deaths, 59 missing people, and 19 injured individuals.

The typhoon reached Philippine land areas Tuesday night and swept through Metro Manila and central Luzon, affecting almost 13,000 families.

A large part of Luzon suffered total power failure around dawn on Wednesday as Basyang damaged electric power transmission lines. (PIA-Bohol)