Hanna slightly intensifies; Batanes still under Signal no. 1

Typhoon Hanna slightly intensifies while accelerating west northwestward towards the sea east of Taiwan, PAGASA said in its 11 a.m. bulletin on Saturday.

Batanes, meanwhile, is still under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1.

Under Signal no. 1 winds of 39-61 km/h and intermittent rains may be expected in at least 36 hours.

Hanna also continues to enhance the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat which will bring occasional to monsoon rains over the western portion of Luzon.

The enhanced Habagat will also continue to bring gusty conditions over the following areas not under any Wind Signal:

• Batanes
• Babuyan Islands
• Ilocos Region
• Cordillera Administrative Region
• Nueva Vizcaya, Zambales
• Pampanga, Bataan
• Aurora, Bulacan
• Metro Manila
• CALABARZON
• MIMAROPA
• Bicol Region
• Western Visayas
• Northern portion of Eastern Visayas

Due to the combined influence of Hanna and the enhanced Southwest Monsoon, a Gale Warning is in effect for the northern and western seaboards of Luzon, the eastern seaboards of Central and Southern Luzon, portions of seaboards of Northern Quezon, the southern seaboard of Southern Luzon, and the western seaboard of Visayas.

The center of the eye of Typhoon Hanna was estimated based on all available data at 455 km East Northeast of Itbayat, Batanes (22.3 °N, 125.9 °E )

It is moving west northwestward at 15 km/h, with maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 160 km/h.

PAGASA said Hanna is forecast to move west northwestward or westward while intensifying until it makes landfall along the east coast of southern Taiwan on late Sunday.

By Wednesday or Thursday, Hanna will have weakened into a tropical depression, the state weather bureau said. 

Effects felt

Batanes has yet to fully assess the damage caused by Typhoon Goring but it is already feeling the effects of Hanna on Saturday.

According to Batanes Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office head Roldan Esdicul, the waves are rough, affecting the delivery of fuel to the island of Itbayat. This has affected the power situation in the municipality.

Meanwhile, Internet data service is down, thus authorities have to make do with call and text communication for now.

Marikina River

The water level at Marikina River reached 15.1 meters at 2 a.m. on Saturday after heavy rains brought by the monsoon, prompting authorities to raise the first alarm. This means residents should "prepare" to evacuate.

At 6 a.m. on Saturday, though, the water level went down to 14.6 meters which is normal, thus the first alarm was deactivated.

Cancelled flight

Several flights were also cancelled on Saturday due to the bad weather.

Air Asia (Z2)

• Z2 092 Manila - Macao
• Z2  1264  Manila -  Hong Kong

Cebu Pacific (5J)

• 5J 362   Manila-Macao

Philippine Airlines (PR)

• PR 301  Hong Kong - Manila

—Jamil Santos/ VAL, GMA Integrated News