Wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour (km/h) battered the country yesterday afternoon, uprooting trees and causing trees to damage several cars and blocking roads.
Images and videos of the aftermath of the severe weather condition were circulated on social media, with videos showing roofs blown off buildings and a vehicle crushed by a tree injuring the person inside the vehicle.
Fallen trees and branches as well as roofs blown off by the wind were reported in Sungai Kebun, Kiulap commercial area, RPN Kampong Lambak Kanan, government buildings at the Old Airport Road, Panaga area and a commercial complex in Jalan Tutong.
The Fire and Rescue Department personnel also responded to 72 emergency calls on fallen trees and 20 calls on roof blown off nationwide until 6pm yesterday.
The Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department reported that as of 8am yesterday, Typhoon Bebinca was downgraded to a tropical depression system after making landfall over east of China. It stated that the system is not expected to influence Brunei weather.
However, at 11am yesterday, another tropical depression system was observed northeast of the Philippines, approximately 3,400km from the Sultanate.
The system is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm and is forecast to move westwards.
At the same time, Tropical Storm Pulasan was observed over the western Pacific Ocean, about 3,000km away from Brunei and is forecast to move northwestwards, away from the country.
The tropical depression system and Tropical Storm Pulasan are expected to influence the weather until September 23.
Occasional heavy showers or thundershowers, accompanied by gust, are expected to occur especially over coastal and sea areas, potentially propagating onto inland areas.
The wind speed may reach between 60km/h to 80km/h during or near squally showers. Over Brunei waters, the sea state is generally moderate to rough, between 1.2-2.5 metres (m), and may increase up to 3m during heavy gusty showers. Brunei was also affected by severe weather conditions with strong winds of up to 65km/h on August 30, where fallen trees had damaged vehicles and blocked numerous roads. – Azlan Othman, James Kon & Lyna Mohamad
