Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Death toll from rains spawned by Typhoon "Gener" (international name: Saola) has risen to seven, and left about 40,000 Filipinos affected, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said today.
The NDRRMC said 8,298 families or 40,477 persons in 14 provinces of Ilocos region, Cagayan,Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western and Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao and National Capital Region were affected by the typhoon.
Meanwhile, 2,553 families or 20,496 persons inside and outside evacuation centres have been served by authorities.
Typhoon Gener has maintained its strength and continued to move slowly north-northwest at 7 kilometres per hour, and was forecast to be outside the Philippine area of responsibility by Friday.
Signal No. 3 remained up over the Batanes Group of Islands while Signal No. 2 was still up over Cagayan, Calayan Group of Islands and Babuyan Group of Islands, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Signal No. 1 remained in Isabela, Kalinga and Apayao. As of 4am, Gener was located 180 kilometres east-northeast of Basco, Batanes , with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres per hour near the centre and gustiness of up to 150 kph. It was moving north-northwest at 7 kph.
Residents living in low-lying and mountainous areas were alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides. Likewise, those living in coastal areas under Signal No. 3 and No. 2 were alerted against big waves or storm surges generated by this tropical cyclone.
Fishing boats and other small seacraft were advised not to venture out into the Seaboard of Luzon and Visayas due to the combined effect of typhoon "Gener" and the southwest monsoon.
Meanwhile, the rest of Luzon and Visayas will experience occasional rains becoming more frequent over the western sections which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.
Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest will prevail over Central and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and coming from the west to southwest over the rest of Northern Luzon. The coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough.
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