Tropical Storm Cosme Update

A rainbow forms over vegetable farms in Benguet following heavy rainfall brought by tropical storm ‘Cosme.’
Tropical storm “Cosme” had a slight change of direction and made landfall over western Pangasinan yesterday afternoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the center of Cosme was estimated at 90 kms north-northwest of Iba, Zambales with maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 135 kph.

Cosme was forecast to move northeast at 19 kph.

Public storm warning signal number 3 was raised in Zambales, Pangasinan, Tarlac, La Union, Benguet and Ilocos Sur.

Signal number 2 was hoisted in Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Ifugao, Mt Province, Kalinga, Abra, Apayao and Ilocos Norte while signal number 1 was up in Lubang Island, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Northern Quezon, Isabela, Cagayan, Calayan Island, the Babuyan group of islands, Batanes and Metro Manila.

Cosme is expected to be at 130 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City this afternoon, at 660 kilometers east northeast of Basco, Batanes by tomorrow afternoon, and at 780 kilometers east of Okinawa, Japan by Tuesday afternoon.

Cosme will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring occasional rains over the rest of southern Luzon and western Visayas, Pagasa said.

“Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes are advised to take all the necessary precautions against possible flash floods and landslides,” Pagasa said.

Residents along the coastal areas of western Luzon and western Visayas, meantime, have been alerted against big waves generated by Cosme.

Relatively high

Despite heavy rains brought by tropical storms Cosme and “Dindo” that left streets flooded in Malolos City in Bulacan, the water level at the Angat Dam continues to decrease, but is still considered high for this time of year.

Water managers at the Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan said water elevation in the giant reservoir slightly dropped from 201.98 meters recorded last Thursday morning to 201.77 meters yesterday morning.

However, the water level is still high compared to the 185 meters to 195 meters usually recorded at this time of the year.

This means enough water for Metro Manila residents at least for the rest of the year, said Dennis Gana, corporate communications manager of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) that operates the Angat Dam.

Gana told The STAR in a telephone interview that the current water elevation at the dam is historically higher than previous years.

Gana added that despite the slight drop in water elevation, it is expected to recover soon as the rainy season has begun.

As a multi-purpose dam, Angat Dam supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s domestic water requirement, allocates irrigation water for Bulacan and Pampanga farmers, generates power for the Luzon grid, and serves as a flood control facility during the rainy season.

Gana also told The STAR that Napocor usually charges 35 centavos less per kilowatt-hour to power distributors during the wet season or from July to December as Napocor utilizes its hydro-power plants like the Angat River hydroelectric power plant just beside the Angat Dam.

“This is the reason why our power rates usually go down in the second half of the year, because we are using more of our hydroelectric plant,” he said

Meantime, a number of barangays in Malolos City and in the coastal towns of Obando, Hagonoy, Paombong and Bulakan were under water again yesterday due to high tide, coupled by monsoon rains brought about by the two storms.