‘Helen’ intensifies, threatens extreme N. Luzon

Tropical storm Helen (international name “Megi”) intensified into a typhoon threatening extreme Northern Luzon. Tropical cyclone Signal No. 1 has been hoisted over Batanes and Babuyan group of islands. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) located the eye of the typhoon at 880 kilometers (km) east of Calayan in Cagayan around 5p.m. on Sunday. A stronger Helen with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 175 kph is forecast to move west-northwest at 22 kph. The typhoon is expected to move near Batanes area by Monday morning and will be near Taiwan by Tuesday morning, according to PAGASA weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio. Batanes is still reeling from the effects of typhoon Ferdie (Meranti), one of the most intense tropical cyclones to make landfall this year, after crossing the northernmost islands of the Philippines on September 14. On Sunday, Batanes and [...]