More areas placed under Signal No. 1 as Typhoon Bising intensifies over PH Sea

MANILA (UPDATE) - More areas in the country have been placed under tropical cyclone wind signal no. 1 as typhoon Bising rapidly intensified as it moved closer to the Philippine land mass, state weather bureau PAGASA said Saturday.

In its 5 a.m. weather bulletin, PAGASA said Bising was spotted 705 kilometers east of Surigao City, Surigao del Norte as of 4 a.m., packing maximum sustained winds of up to 175 kilometers per hour near the center, with 215 kph gusts while moving west northwest at 20 kph.

PAGASA said Bising is expected to move west nortwest or northwest over the Philippine Sea until Sunday afternoon or evening. Bising is forecast to further intensify and reach its peak intensity between 195 and 205 kph on Sunday.

The typhoon is expected to "slow down and move northward or north-northeastward until Tuesday (20 April) early morning before moving north-northwestward over the Philippine Sea east of Northern and Central Luzon."

The Saturday morning forecast had no information on potential landfall.

• Typhoon Bising rapidly intensifies, may reach peak strength Sunday

The weather disturbance is forecast to bring moderate to heavy with at times intense rains over Eastern Visayas, Sorsogon, Masbate, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Camotes Islands by Sunday.

“Under these conditions, flooding (including flashfloods) and rain-induced landslides may occur especially in areas identified in hazard maps as highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards,” PAGASA said.

Bising is projected to cause rough to very rough seas in the eastern seaboards of Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, Caraga and Davao Region. It likewise warned that sea travel for all types of seacraft is risky as waves as high as 6.5 meters may occur.

According to PAGASA, cyclone winds of at least a strong breeze to near gale strength may be reached up to 500 km from the center of Bising.

“Destructive typhoon-force winds extend outward up to 50 km from the center of the typhoon,” it said.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 is hoisted in the following areas:

LUZON:

• The central and eastern portions of Sorsogon (Castilla, Magallanes, Matnog, Juban, Irosin, Bulan, Santa Magdalena, Bulusan, Barcelona, Casiguran, Gubat, Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon City)
• The eastern portion of Albay (Manito, Legazpi City, Santo Domingo, Malilipot, Bacacay, Tabaco City, Rapu-Rapu, Malinaw, Tiwi)
• The eastern portion of Camarines Sur (Presentacion, Caramoan, Garchitorena)
• Catanduanes

VISAYAS:

• Northern Samar
• Samar
• Eastern Samar
• Biliran
• Leyte
• Southern Leyte
• Camotes Islands

MINDANAO

• Dinagat Islands
• Surigao del Norte (including Siargao and Bucas Grande Islands)
• Surigao del Sur

NTC TELLS TELCOS TO PREP LOGISTICS

In a memorandum Saturday, the National Telecommunications Commission ordered telecommunications firms to prepare their facilities and personnel in areas that might be affected by the typhoon.

The memo, signed by Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, said telcos are "directed to ensure that there are sufficient number of technical and support personnel and standby generators with extra fuel, tools and spare equipment" in areas on the path of the storm.

Cordoba also ordered telcos to deploy stations that would provide free call and charging services in areas that might experience outages and to regularly update the NTC on restoration activities.

Visit the ABS-CBN Weather Center for more updates.