ILOILO City – The southwest monsoon, enhanced by Tropical Depression “Henry”, would bring more rains over Western Visayas and other parts of the country, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
In the next 24 hours, there could be flooding and landslides due to light to moderate to at times heavy monsoon rains in Region 6, Metro Manila, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, and Palawan, the state weather bureau said yesterday afternoon.
As of 4 p.m., “Henry” was last spotted 180 kilometers east-southeast of Calayan, Cagayan and was moving west at 35 km per hour.
It was packing maximum sustained winds of 60 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 75 kph.
Two other low-pressure areas (LPAs) were spotted around the country yesterday, with one located 200 km east-southeast of Calayan, Cagayan as of 4 p.m. and the other spotted 1,070 km south of Infanta, Quezon as of 1 p.m.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) issued a “blue alert” yesterday afternoon.
It aimed to ensure the continuous monitoring of the prevailing weather system, said NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad.
The Department of Interior and Local Government, on the other hand, advised all local government units to implement preparedness activities.
In a weather bulletin, Pagasa placed the following under tropical cyclone warning signal No.1: Batanes, northern Cagayan, Babuyan group of islands, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte.
Weather specialist Ariel Rojas said these areas would experience occasional rains with gusty winds and warned of possible flooding and landslides.
“Henry” was expected to make its landfall in the Babuyan group of islands last night and further forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) this morning.
Rojas further advised fisher folks and those with small boats not to head out to sea due to the gusty winds.
“The public is advised to heed the call of local DRRM councils for evacuation if the need arises. Everyone is encouraged to prepare, and not to be complacent about the prevailing weather situation. All are enjoined to monitor updates on these weather systems through radio, TV and social media,” said Jalad.
Pagasa saw a temperature range of 16-34°C across the country until Friday.
Yesterday, it recorded a peak temperature of 28.6°C and a minimum temperature of 23°C. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
