Signal No. 1 over Batanes, Babuyan as Typhoon Hanna makes landfall in Taiwan

Typhoon Hanna (international name: Haikui) has made landfall over Taitung County in Taiwan and is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by early Monday morning, but two areas remain under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal 1.

The state weather bureau PAGASA, in its Tropical Cyclone Bulletin 16 released at 5 p.m. on Sunday, said Hanna is expected to move generally west-northwestward while crossing southern Taiwan on Sunday evening.

Hanna was last spotted 245 kilometers north northwest of Itbayat, Batanes, moving west northwestward at 20 kilometers per hour with maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour near the center, and gustiness of up to 190 kilometers per hour.

“The Southwest Monsoon currently enhanced by Hanna will bring occasional to monsoon rains over the western portion of Luzon and Antique in the next three days,” PAGASA said.

Batanes and the Babuyan Islands remain under Storm Signal No. 1, indicating that winds of 39 to 61 kilometers per hour or intermittent rains may be expected in at least 36 hours.

Hanna could emerge over the Taiwan Strait and exit the PAR on Sunday evening or early Monday morning when it is projected to become slow-moving due to land interaction and the “increasingly unfavorable” environment.

Hanna is then expected to make its final landfall along Guangdong or Fujian in China as a severe tropical storm on Tuesday, and weaken further into a remnant low on late Wednesday or Thursday. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News