Trending News|July 18, 2014 09:43 EDT
Typhoon Rammasun (Glenda) News, Latest Update: 38 Dead in Philippines, New Typhoon Henry Fast Approaching
Typhoon Rammasun, also known as Typhoon Glenda in the Philippines, battered Metro Manila for only about three hours on Wednesday, but it was enough to shut down the capital, leaving the city in shambles and without power. The typhoon also took 38 lives as it headed out into the West Philippine Sea.
The powerful winds of Typhoon Glenda brought down trees, electric posts, and tore off roofs across Metro Manila, where government offices, schools and the stock market were closed for the day.
The typhoon's powerful winds shut down the two runways servicing domestic and international flights at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 7am. Airport operations were paralyzed entirely for most of the morning as the typhoon passed just south of the capital.
Without electricity, the elevated commuter train services LRT and MRT were suspended, and most of the city comprised of 12 million people sweltered in the dark for more than half a day.
Typhoon Glenda is now out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). It exited at 8am, July 17. Although Metro Manila is now in the clear, other provinces such as Albay, Camarines Sur, and Naga City are still under a state of calamity. As it currently stands, it has been reported that electricity has been restored to seventy percent of households and commercial districts. Government efforts to clean up Metro Manila and other provinces that were hit by the typhoon are in full force.
Meanwhile, the Philippines is once again bracing itself for more bad weather.
As of 4pm on Thursday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that the new low pressure area that was spotted earlier in Mindanao has now intensified into a tropical depression. The weather disturbance is expected to enter PAR within 24 hours, and once it does, it will be called "Henry".
Project NOAH Executive Director Dr. Mahar Lagmay says that Filipinos should prepare for the incoming LPA the way they prepared for "Glenda", if the new weather disturbance makes landfall.
