Emong makes second landfall, weakens

MANILA — Emong made its second landfall over Ilocos Sur before dawn on Friday and weakened, PAGASA said.  

Emong slammed into Candon City at 5:10 a.m. and weakened into a severe tropical storm while crossing the mountainous terrain of Cordillera, the state weather bureau said. 

PAGASA lifted wind signal no. 4, but kept signal no. 3 raised in Ilocos Norte, Iloco Sur, Abra, Kalinga, northern La Union, northwestern Benguet, western Mountain Province, western Kalinga, and western mainland Cagayan.

Signal no. 2 was up in the following areas, where winds of 62 to 88 kilometers per hour were expected. 

• Batanes
• Rest of mainland Cagayan including Babuyan Islands
• Northern and western Isabela (Cordon, City of Santiago, Ramon, San Isidro, Alicia, San Mateo, Cabatuan, San Manuel, Luna, Aurora, Burgos, Roxas, Quirino, Mallig, Delfin Albano, Quezon, Cabagan, Santa Maria, San Pablo, Maconacon, Santo Tomas, Tumauini, Gamu, Ilagan City, City of Cauayan, Reina Mercedes, Naguilian)
• Northwestern portion Quirino (Diffun)
• Western and central Nueva Vizcaya (Kayapa, Santa Fe, Ambaguio, Aritao, Bambang, Bayombong, Villaverde, Solano, Bagabag, Dupax del Sur, Dupax del Norte, Kasibu, Quezon, Diadi)
• Rest of Kalinga
• Rest of Mountain Province
• Ifugao
• Rest of Benguet
• Rest of La Union and Northwestern Pangasinan (Bolinao, Anda)

The following areas that could be lashed by 39 to 61 kph winds were under signal no. 1. 

• Rest of Pangasinan
• Rest of Isabela Rest of Quirino
• Rest of Nueva Vizcaya
• Northern and central portions of Aurora (Dilasag, Casiguran, Dinalungan, Dipaculao) Northern portion of Nueva Ecija (Nampicuan, Cuyapo, Guimba, Talugtug, Science City of Muñoz, San Jose City, Lupao, Carranglan, Pantabangan)
• Northern portion of Tarlac (San Clemente, Camiling, Moncada, San Manuel, Anao, Paniqui, Santa Ignacia, Mayantoc, San Jose, City of Tarlac, Victoria, Pura, Gerona, Ramos)
• Northern portion of Zambales (Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Palauig, Iba)

At 7 a.m., Emong was in the vicinity of San Isidro, Abra. It was packing winds of 100 kph with gusts up to 165 kph. 

Moving north northeastward at 15 kph, Emong may pass close to or over Babuyan and Batanes later Friday day while continuously weakening. 

Emong may be out of the Philippine area of responsibility Saturday morning or noon.

The Philippines this week shut down schools and cancelled flights Thursday as typhoon-driven rains pounded the northern island of Luzon, a situation President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called "the new normal".

Emong followed days of monsoon rains that have killed at least 25 people and left another 11 missing across the archipelago since July 18, according to the national disaster agency.

Marcos said on Thursday that climate change meant Filipinos needed to be thinking about how to adapt to a "new normal".

"This is not an extraordinary situation anymore... This will be our lives no matter what we do," he told a televised cabinet briefing, adding the country should plan for the long-term in addressing natural disasters.

"This is the way it's going to be as far as we know for... many decades to come, so let's just prepare," he said.

"We have to understand that the climate has changed, the rain patterns have changed," he added, pointing to recent devastating flooding in the US state of Texas.

Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters that swamped some neighbourhoods in waist-deep water and left residents of nearby provinces stranded and in need of rescue by boat.

As of Thursday, at least several thousand people in Manila remained unable to return to their homes.

"We cannot send them home yet because it is still raining and some typhoons are still expected to affect the country," Ria Mei Pangilinan, a rescue coordinator in the capital, told AFP.

"There might be more (evacuees) if the rain does not stop."