Power supply to be cut off as ‘Lawin’ proximates ‘Yolanda’
Residents on the path of Super Typhoon “Lawin” (international name: Haima) will have to endure a powerless night as officials announced that power supply will be cut off in areas where electric posts are expected to be toppled by strong winds and intense rains, Wednesday afternoon.
Power supply in Cagayan, Isabela, Kalinga, and Apayao where signal number 5 has been declared will be temporarily shut down as the super typhoon continues to pack maximum sustained winds of 225 kilometers per hour (kph) with gustiness of up to 315 kph as it moves west northwest at 25 kph.
Storm surges measuring up to five meters high are also expected along the northern seaboards of Luzon.
“Ang mararanasan nila ay delubyo, hindi nalalayo sa pinsala ng Yolanda. (What they will experience is a deluge, not far from the damage brought by the onslaught of Yolanda),” state weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said during PAGASA’s 5 p.m. briefing.
Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013 that stirred giant waves in central Philippines left 7,350 people dead or missing.
“Lawin” is expected to make landfall by Wednesday evening, and exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by early Friday morning.
Meantime, the Ambuklao, Binga, and Magat dams in Luzon have opened several water gates to avoid overflow.
“We have notified residents living near the dams about the outflows and issued general flood advisories to warn that small rivers will easily overflow once heavy rain pours,” officials said. (ABS-CBN News)