Weakened Ruby hits Batangas; Red Cross puts death toll at 21

Published December 8, 2014 5:21pm

(UPDATED 6:42 p.m.) A weakened Tropical Storm Ruby made landfall in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas, at 5:45 p.m on Monday.

In its 5 p.m. bulletin, PAGASA said Ruby had weakened further, with maximum sustained winds slowed to 85 kph with gusts of up to 100 kph. It still packed rains of 5 to 15 mm per hour (moderate to heavy) within its 450-km diameter.

Public storm signals remained over 16 areas, including Metro Manila and Calabarzon.

Storm Signal No. 2 is still up over the following areas:

Metro Manila
Batangas
Cavite
Bataan
Laguna
Southern Quezon
Marinduque
Northern Oriental Mindoro including Lubang Island

Under Storm Signal No. 1 are:

Zambales
Pampanga
Tarlac
Bulacan
Rizal
Rest of Quezon
Rest of Mindoro provinces
Romblon

Casualty count

As Ruby slowly made its way through the eastern part of the country, at least 21 people were reported dead, many of them drowned as flood waters rose in Borongan, the main town in Eastern Samar, where Ruby made first landfall, the Philippine National Red Cross said on Monday.

"The breakdown we have is one from Western Samar, one from Northern Samar, three from Iloilo and 16 from Eastern Samar, specifically from Borongan. We have people on the ground, we received this from our local Red Cross chapters," Pang said.

When sought for comment on the number of fatalities, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chief Alexander Pama said the NDRRMC has no record of those numbers yet.

Effects on Metro Manila

Metro Manila is expected to feel the full effects of the storm at around 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Monday, when the the storm's eye is at its closest to the capital.

It is forecast to move west-northwest at 13 kph and is forecast to be 240 km west of Quezon City Tuesday afternoon.

By Wednesday afternoon it is expected to be 590 km west of Quezon City. By Thursday afternoon, it is expected to be 920 km west of Quezon City.

Tropical Storm Ruby is expected to leave the PAR by 7 p.m, on December 10, Wednesday.

Rains, flood

PAGASA warns that Tropical Storm Ruby could still bring flooding to low-lying areas.

At 6 p.m., the weather bureau maintained its orange rainfall warning over Calabarzon, which could bring heavy rain over the area. An orange rainfall alert means 15 to 30 mm per hour of rain, which means flooding is threatening in low-lying and coastal areas.

In the same bulletin, PAGASA maintained its yellow rainfall alert over Metro Manila, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija.

PAGASA also said Ruby and the Northeast Monsoon will cause rough to very rough sea conditions over the seaboards of Luzon and Visayas.

"Fisherfolks and those using small sea craft are advised not to venture out over the said seaboards," it said. — Joel Locsin/Bea Montenegro/TJD/JST with a report from Reuters, GMA News

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