While Filipinos are still reeling from the effects of tropical cyclones “Ondoy" (Ketsana) and “Pepeng" (Parma), state weather forecasters said a new cyclone may enter Philippine territory this weekend. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) weather bureau chief Nathaniel Cruz said the cyclone will be named “Ramil" once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility. “Nasa karagatan ng Pilipinas ito at ‘di pa pumapasok sa ating area of responsibility - ito ay may kalayuan pa (It is still in the Philippine Sea and has not entered our area of responsibility. It is still far away)," Cruz said in an interview on dzRH radio.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (
NOAA) said the cyclone, code-named Tropical Storm 22W, was about 140 miles south-southwest of Guam as of 10 a.m. ChST (8 a.m. Manila time). It said the storm was making its closest approach to the Southern Marianas and is moving rapidly west at around 25 miles per hour (mph). “Maximum sustained winds are 40 mph. Tropical Storm 22W is expected to intensify over the next 24 hours," it said. Meanwhile, Bicol-based typhoon Website
Typhoon2000 said on Thursday that based on its monitoring data, the weather disturbance may intensify into a cyclone with winds of up to 205 kph.
Damage of recent cyclones In its 6 a.m. advisory, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) data showed that Ondoy and Pepeng jointly caused 711 deaths, while 89 remained missing. Damage to property from
“Ondoy" and
“Pepeng" amounted P19.906 billion, including P6.608 billion in infrastructure and P13.298 billion in agriculture. [See earlier story:
Ondoy, Pepeng combined damage hits P12B] At least 7,478,292 people had been affected by two cyclones, the NDCC said.
- GMANews.TV 
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