Egay hits Luzon, shuts down Metro

MANILA — Some flights were canceled in Northern Luzon and all ships were ordered to remain in harbor as Tropical Storm Egay hits the country on Monday.

Some schools in Metro Manila were also closed, according to disaster officials.

Egay hit north on Sunday and was spotted about 135 km southwest of Laoag City on Monday.

Atleast 14 areas were issued with storm warnings as Egay enters the Philippine Area of Responsibilty (PAR) with maximum wind gusts of 100 kilometers per hour.

Executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a statement that all sea activities were grounded.

“We are grounding all sea travel and fishing operations in the north because we expect sea waves to go as high as 4 meters,” Pama said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also recorded more than 1,600 families affected by storm.

Several families were also evacuated due to flashfloods and landslides.

In the Ilocos region, 1,603 families from the provinces of La Union, Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur;  19 people in Benguet and Kalinga provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region were evacuated from their homes.

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said that the department had more than 100,000 in food packs ready   for northern Luzon towns.

Soliman said the goods were prepositioned in  local government units as part of their preparedness measure.

“The prepositioning of relief supply at the provincial and municipal levels is a regular disaster preparedness measure that we undertake to ensure that assistance is not delayed,” Soliman said.