October 22, 2009
MANILA (AFP) - Typhoon Lupit slowed and hovered just off the north coast of the Philippines on Thursday, buying the cyclone-devastated nation more time to prepare, officials said.
The government expressed relief that Lupit was now expected to hit land on Saturday at the earliest, a day later than previously forecast.
"From the latest forecasts, it appears the typhoon has weakened," President Gloria Arroyo told residents of nearby Batangas city during a provincial visit.
"We now have a longer time to prepare. Let us continue to pray that it would weaken further and spare the country," she added.
With the eye almost stationary about 265 kilometres (165 miles) east of Luzon island's northeast tip as of 8:00am (0000 GMT), Lupit now had maximum sustained winds of 126 kilometres an hour, considerably weaker than in previous days, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
However, the typhoon has a wide circulation and the Philippines weather service said Cagayan Valley region of Luzon was now being whipped with gusts of up to 185 kilometres an hour.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council said in a statement that soldiers and paramedics had been deployed on the north coast with rescue boats, trucks and emergency supplies in place in case evacuations were necessary.
It said more than 100 government buildings were on standby as possible evacuation camps in the nearby Cordillera region, which suffered from landslides that killed 438 people during the onslaught of Tropical Storm Parma earlier this month.
Tropical Storm Ketsana meanwhile killed 464 people when it brought widespread flooding in and around Manila on September 26, and 104 others have died from flood-related disease, according to the latest government tallies.
