Rains may trigger flashfloods, landslides in Visayas, Mindanao areas—Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines—Light to moderate rainfall spawned by the tail-end of the cold front could trigger another landslide in northern and eastern Mindanao as had happened in Compostela Valley, weather forecasters warned Thursday.

The tail-end of the cold front would bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over eastern Visayas and Mindanao from Thursday to Friday, which could trigger flashfloods and landslides, said forecaster Fernando Cada of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, or Pagasa.

“Yes it’s possible, especially in areas that are vulnerable,” he said when asked in a phone interview if a similar landslide could also strike provinces in northern and eastern Mindanao.

The low pressure area (LPA) that dumped heavy rain over parts of Mindanao early this week dissipated Thursday morning.

The northeast monsoon (amihan) would bring cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over southern Luzon, including Metro Manila, between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, Cada said.

Weather forecasters theorized that the rainfall dumped by low pressure areas in Mindanao in the past days might have saturated the soil in Compostela Valley, resulting in the landslide.

Pagasa doesn’t have a station in Compostela Valley. Its station in Tagum City, Davao Oriental, the province beside Compostela Valley, however, recorded light rain last Wednesday.

“The soil may have been saturated, causing it to give way,” Cada said.

There were two LPAs that developed off General Santos City in Sarangani since Dec. 31, dumping heavy rain over parts of Mindanao.