Trami may return next week

Tropical Storm Trami blew off the northwest Philippines, killing at least 65 people in landslides and extensive flooding, leaving authorities scrambling for more rescue boats to rescue thousands of terrified people trapped, some on their roofs .

But the onslaught may not be over yet: State forecasters have raised the rare possibility that the storm – the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year – could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds . in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said yesterday that 33 people were killed, mostly in landslides triggered by Trami in Batangas province, south of Manila. That brought the total death toll from the storm to at least 65.

Eleven other villagers are still missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao Jr. said. by phone from the lakeside town of Talisay, where he stood next to a villager whose wife and child were buried in the deep mound of mud, boulders and trees.

Using a backhoe and shovels, police searched through three meters of mud, rocks and rubble and found part of the head and foot apparently belonging to the missing woman and child.

People on a boat carrying out relief operations in a flooded area in Naga, Camarines Sur. —AFP/AP

“He is just devastated,” Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman, whose wife and child were buried in the landslide that occurred Thursday afternoon amid heavy rain while he was away fishing cages in a lake.

“He is in shock and cannot speak. We just ask him to point out where their bedroom was located so that we can dig in that area,” Malinao said.

The storm was last observed at dawn, blowing 125 kilometers west of the coastal town of Bacnotan in the northern province of La Union, with sustained winds of up to 95 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 115 kilometers per hour. It was moving northwest at a speed of 25 km/h towards Vietnam, which is expected to be hit by Trami from tomorrow if it stays on course.

However, the Philippine Weather Bureau said it is possible that high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea could force the storm to turn back towards the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos, sounding irritated, inquired about that prospect yesterday during an emergency meeting with Cabinet members and disaster management officials on the response to the widespread destruction.

“What are the predictions for that? Is it possible for it to return?” Marcos asked.

A government forecaster told him that Trami could turn west of the Philippines early next week, but it was more likely to blow away from the Philippines again without making landfall.

A man navigates flooded streets in Cainta, Rizal province.

“It doesn’t have to come ashore to cause damage,” Marcos said, referring to the persistent rainstorms caused by Trami in the Philippines.

Marcos also mentioned a new storm in the Pacific Ocean that could threaten the country again.

“Oh God, it is what it is. We just have to deal with it,” Marcos said.

State forecaster Jofren Habaluyas said Trami’s possible reversal has attracted interest from government weather experts in Asia, including those from Japan, which has provided information to the Philippines to help monitor the storm.

The 65 storm deaths included 26 villagers killed in floods and landslides in hard-hit Bicol, an agricultural region and tourist destination southeast of Manila popular for Mayon, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes with a near-perfect cone.

Although Trami did not develop into a typhoon, it caused unusually heavy rainfall in some regions, including some that saw one to two months of rain in just 24 hours, inundating communities with flash floods.

Officials in the city of Naga, where 11 people died from drowning, and the remote provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay called for more rescue boats at the height of the attack to reach people trapped on the top floors of their homes or on their roofs as the water rose .

In the foothills of Mayon Volcano in Albay province, mud and other debris flowed into nearby towns when the storm hit, flooding homes and cars with black-colored mudslides.

More than 2.6 million people were affected by the deluge, with nearly 320,000 fleeing to evacuation centers or the homes of relatives, disaster management officials said.

The government has closed schools and government offices in the northern island of Luzon. Ferry services between the islands were also suspended, leaving thousands stranded.

In Vietnam, state forecasters warned of heavy rains in the central region.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered coastal provinces to remain vigilant, closely monitor Trami’s course and brace for unforeseen events. – AP