Lupit spares Philippines = What a relief !!

Oct 24, 2009

MANILA - THE Philippines breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday as typhoon Lupit, now downgraded into a tropical storm, veered away from the country which is still dealing with the devastation from two previous deadly storms.
Lupit made a sharp turn northwards, away from the main Philippine island of Luzon and was forecast to continue moving northwards, the government weather station said.
As of 4am on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday, 4am Singapore time), Lupit was charted 240km north-east of the northern town of Aparri, it said.
Storm alerts were lowered across the northern part of the country where relief operations had been prepared in anticipation of the arrival of a massive typhoon.
However the weather station warned residents in the north to remain on alert for flashfloods and landslides caused by continued rains in an area where the ground is already saturated from previous storms.
The government had already prepared relief goods and rescue equipment and pre-emptively evacuated more than 2,500 people from vulnerable areas during Lupit's approach. -- AFP