Metro Manila, 8 other areas under Signal No. 3; Ulysses about to leave landmass

Metro Manila and eight other areas remained under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 3 even as Typhoon Ulysses "weakened" and was about to leave Luzon landmass, PAGASA said Thursday.

In its 8 a.m. severe weather bulletin, PAGASA said the following areas are under Signal No. 3:

• The northern portion of Cavite (Naic, Tanza, Ternate, Maragondon, Rosario, Noveleta, Cavite City, Kawit, Bacoor, Imus, General Trias, Trece Martires City, Dasmariñas),
• Metro Manila,
• the western portion of Bulacan (San Miguel, San Ildefonso, San Rafael, Angat, Santa Maria, Marilao, Meycauayan City, Obando, Bulacan, Bocaue, Pandi, Bustos, Baliuag, Plaridel, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos City, Paombong, Hagonoy, Calumpit, Pulilan),
• the western portion of Nueva Ecija (Gapan City, Peñaranda, Santa Rosa, Cabanatuan City, General Mamerto Natividad, Llanera, San Jose City, Lupao, Cabiao, San Isidro, San Leonardo, Jaen, San Antonio, Zaragoza, Aliaga, Talavera, Licab, Quezon, Santo Domingo, Guimba, Muñoz City, Talugtug, Cuyapo, Nampicuan),
• Pampanga,
• Tarlac,
• Bataan,
• Zambales, and
• Pangasinan

PAGASA said these areas will continue to experience "destructive, typhoon-force winds."

Meanwhile, the following areas were under Signal No. 2:

• The central and southern portions of Isabela (Mallig, Quirino, Ilagan, Roxas, Burgos, Gamu, Palanan, San Mariano, Dinapigue, San Guillermo, Benito Soliven, Naguilian, Reina Mercedes, Luna, San Manuel, Aurora, Cabatuan, Cauayan City, San Mateo, Alicia, Angadanan, Echague, Jones, San Agustin, San Isidro, Ramon, Santiago City, Cordon),
• Quirino,
• Nueva Vizcaya,
• Mountain Province,
• Ifugao,
• Benguet,
• the southern portion of Ilocos Sur (Cervantes, Quirino, San Emilio, Lidlidda, Santiago, Banayoyo, Candon City, Galimuyod, Gregorio Del Pilar, Salcedo, Santa Lucia, Santa Cruz, Sigay, Suyo, Tagudin, Alilem, Sugpon),
• La Union,
• Aurora,
• the rest of Nueva Ecija,
• the rest of Bulacan,
• the northern and central portion of Quezon (San Antonio, Tiaong, Dolores, Candelaria, Sariaya, Lucban, Tayabas City, Lucena City, Pagbilao, Perez, Alabat, Atimonan, Padre Burgos, Agdangan, Plaridel, Mauban, Sampaloc, Real, General Nakar, Infanta) including Polillo Islands,
• Rizal,
• Laguna,
• the rest of Cavite,
• Batangas,
• the northern portion of Oriental Mindoro (Puerto Galera, San Teodoro, Baco, Calapan City), and
• the northern portion of Occidental Mindoro (Paluan, Abra de Ilog) including Lubang Island

Signal No. 1 was meanwhile oisted over the following areas:

• The rest of Isabela
• Kalinga
• Abra
• the rest of Ilocos Sur
• the rest of Occidental Mindoro
• the rest of Oriental Mindoro
• Marinduque
• the northern portion of Romblon (Corcuera, Banton, Concepcion)
• the rest of Quezon
• Camarines Norte
• the western portion of Camarines Sur (Siruma, Tinambac, Calabanga, Bombon, Magarao, Canaman, Camaligan, Gainza, Pamplona, Pasacao, Libmanan, Cabusao, Sipocot, Lupi, Ragay, Del Gallego)

As of Pagasa’s 8 a.m. advisory, Ulysses is expected to emerge over the western seaboard of Zambales within the next hour. Slight intensification is likely as the typhoon moves over the West Philippine Sea away from the landmass.

The typhoon is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility Friday morning or afternoon. 

Floods, power outage

Ulysses brought heavy along with howling winds over parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, on Wednesday night to Thursday, bringing along threats of flooding and reminding affected residents of Ondoy, which devastated many parts of Luzon in 2009.

For Ulysses, serious flooding were reported in many areas, including Quezon, Bulacan, and San Mateo in Rizal.

Power outages also hit different parts of Metro Manila.

A red alert status was also raised before dawn on Thursday over the La Mesa Dam as water level reached 79.17 meters due to heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Ulysses.

Ipo Dam conducted a spilling operation, and residents of low-lying areas including those living near the river bank of Angat River, including Norzagaray, Angat, San Rafael, Bustos, Baliuag, Pulilan, Plaridel, and Hagonoy were advised to be on alert for floodings or flash floods. --KBK, GMA News