Project NOAH MTSAT image as of January 12, 2014, 4:01 AM. Screengrab from https://noah.dost.gov.ph/
MANILA, Philippines—The weather bureau on Saturday alerted residents of Mindanao and the Visayas to possible flash floods and landslides triggered by a low pressure area (LPA) hovering east of the southern Philippines.
The LPA will continue its steady approach, possibly making landfall in the next 12 hours in the Visayas, and may even develop into a tropical cyclone (depression, storm or typhoon), according to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) forecaster Alvin Pura.
“By Wednesday, some models will show that the LPA may make a U-turn, or curve towards Southern Luzon, exiting via Bicol,” Pura said.
But he said that some models also showed the possibility of the disturbance crossing over to the West Philippine Sea.
As this developed, three airlines cancelled a total of 36 domestic flights to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Saturday due to the bad weather in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Zest cancelled flights scheduled from 4:40 a.m. to 3 p.m. to and from Metro Manila and Dumaguete and Tagbilaran cities in the Visayas, and Cagayan de Oro, Ozamiz, Butuan, Dipolog and Surigao cities in Mindanao.
In an online advisory, Cebu Pacific gave passengers on the cancelled flights three options: Free rebooking or rerouting of flights within 30 days; a conversion of full value of fares in a travel fund; or a full refund.
As of 4 p.m. on Saturday, the weather disturbance was observed some 250 kilometers east of General Santos City, Pagasa said.
“This weather system will bring cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms over Mindanao, the Leyte provinces, Negros provinces and Bohol, which may trigger flash floods and landslides,” Pagasa said in an advisory.
“Residents are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures,” it added.
Pagasa’s 4 p.m. advisory alerted residents of several Mindanao provinces to moderate with occasionally heavy rains in Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte.
On the other hand, light to moderate with occasionally heavy rains were expected in Surigao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao City, General Santos City, Cotabato City, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Basilan and Misamis Occidental.
In Tacloban City, survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” have expressed fears of experiencing a storm surge again after the rains and strong winds damaged their tents and caused rainwater to get into their temporary dwellings.
The steady downpour on Saturday turned the entire tent city at the Astrodome muddy, with the rainwater getting through all the tents occupied by 55 families.
“Flooding is threatening low-lying areas and landslides in the mountainous areas,” according to the Pagasa advisory.
The Cagayan Valley and the province of Aurora will be cloudy with light rains, while Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will have partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms, Pagasa said. With a report from Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas
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