MANILA, Philippines — Indeed, rush hour and heavy downpour could spell trouble for motorists.
As Tropical Storm Pepito dumped rain across the nation’s capital region on Tuesday evening, road traffic has gone haywire in many parts of Metro Manila – which has been placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 by the state weather bureau.
Videos taken along C-5 Road’s northbound lane, near the Ortigas flyover in Pasig City, showed slow-moving vehicles up to a portion of Eastwood in Quezon City.
Another video showed moderate to heavy traffic along the eastbound lane of Marcos Highway near Santolan, as Pepito moves closer to the Luzon landmass.
Based on the latest bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Pepito has further intensified as it packs maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph. The tropical storm is forecast to make landfall in Aurora between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the traffic monitoring system of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), light to moderate traffic was also experienced by motorists traversing EDSA’s northbound lanes from Buendia in Makati City all the way to New York Street in Quezon City.
Heavy traffic was also monitored in other areas like Quezon Avenue, Timog Avenue, and Ortigas (Madison).
Pagasa’s 4:00 p.m. weather update said Pepito was last spotted 110 kilometers east of Baler, Aurora, moving 30 kph in the west-northwestward direction.