One reported dead as Egay lashes PH; typhoon makes second landfall in Aparri

Typhoon Egay continues to batter the country with strong winds and heavy rains, leaving one person dead, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The state disaster agency said in a report released at 8 a.m. on Wednesday that the fatality was recorded in Calabarzon. 

Two other individuals, one from Calabarzon and the other from Western Visayas, were also reportedly injured.

These reports are being verified by the NDRRMC as of this posting.

Egay has so far affected 180,439 individuals, and 11,041 of them had to temporarily leave their homes.

The government, meanwhile, prepared a standby fund of P173 million to address the effects of Egay, along with some food and non-food items for the affected individuals.

“Tuloy-tuloy ang ating pagkilos upang maaksyunan ang maaring pinsalang dulot ng Typhoon #EgayPH,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

Rescue teams from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) have also been deployed, he added.

“Naibalik na rin ang kuryente sa 93.53% ng mga apektadong munisipalidad,” said Marcos, who is currently in Malaysia for a state visit.

Second landfall

PAGASA said that Egay made a second landfall on Dalupiri Island in Aparri, Cagayan at 9:30 a.m., moving southwest at 15 kilometers per hour (km/h). 

Its first landfall was in Fuga Island, which is also in Aparri, at 3:10 a.m.

According to its 11 a.m. bulletin, the state weather bureau said that Egay has maintained its strength, with maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h and gustiness of up to 240 km/h.

Almost the entire island of Luzon remained under storm signals. 

The typhoon is expected to exhibit “trochoidal or wobbling motion” in the next six hours while in the vicinity of the Babuyan Islands, where Dalupiri Island and Fuga Island are located.

Egay, the fifth tropical storm this year, is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Thursday morning.

PAGASA also spotted a low pressure area (LPA) east of northeastern Mindanao, but it noted that it’s still uncertain if it will enter PAR.