Stormy weather is expected over large areas of Mindanao and southern portions of the Visayas when the country welcomes the first days of the New Year with an approaching low pressure area (LPA), according to the weather bureau.
In Eastern Visayas and Mindanao, where many provinces suffered from two successive storms in the past weeks, thousands of people who had fled their homes due to floods remained in evacuation centers where they had sought shelter from Tropical Storms “Urduja” (international name: Kai-Tak) and “Vinta” (international name: Tembin).
Evacuation centers
Mina Marasigan, spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Saturday said 89,611 individuals from 18,289 families were still in 99 evacuation centers in the provinces of Palawan, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao City, North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.
More than 4,000 other families displaced by Vinta were staying with relatives, she said.
“We are not expecting these families to return (home) soon,” Marasigan said, citing the weather forecast indicating that the LPA would develop into a tropical cyclone which would follow the same paths of Urduja and Vinta.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Saturday said the LPA was initially expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday.
More rains in Mindanao
Mindanao is expected to bear the brunt of the rainfall in the next few days. Light to moderate rains and thunderstorms are expected over Mindanao until New Year’s Eve, but the rains are expected to intensify occasionally, accompanied by gusty winds, on New Year’s Day until Jan. 2.
Light to heavy rains also would be brought to Luzon by the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and to the Visayas by the tail end of a cold front beginning New Year’s Eve until Jan. 2, Pagasa said.
Cloudy skies with light rains over the eastern section of northern and central Luzon, including Metro Manila were forecast until Jan. 2. Light to moderate rains would be experienced in the Bicol region until Sunday, while the rest of Luzon would have partly cloudy skies and light rains.
‘Agaton’
Pagasa said there was a 50 percent chance that the LPA would develop into the first tropical cyclone of 2018. It would be called “Agaton” once it develops into a tropical depression and forecast to make landfall in eastern Visayas or eastern Mindanao sometime during the first two days of 2018, said weather specialist Gener Quitlong.
Pagasa warned of possible flash floods and landslides in the Davao and Caraga regions, including Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental and the Samar and Leyte provinces.
The southern portions of the Visayas also would be affected by moderate to heavy rains with gusty winds on the first two days of 2018, it said.
Marasigan said the NDRRMC and local governments have prepositioned relief goods and emergency teams but reminded the public, particularly residents in areas previously affected by Urduja and Vinta, to be prepared, stay updated and follow evacuation orders by authorities.
Gale warning
Pagasa also issued a gale warning due to the northeast monsoon, saying it would cause rough to very rough waters on the northern and eastern seaboards of northern Luzon, the northern seaboard of central Luzon, the eastern, western and southern seaboards of southern Luzon, and the eastern and western seaboards of the Visayas.
Authorities have reported that Urduja and Vinta left at least 208 people dead, close to 80 missing and 223 injured, most of them from the latter storm.
Vinta also caused P1.2 billion in damage to agriculture in eastern Visayas, the Zamboanga Peninsula and in the northern Mindanao, Davao and Caraga regions.
The Zamboanga Peninsula, northern Mindanao and Davao region suffered P242.7 million in infrastructure damage.
State of calamity
Two more towns in Zamboanga del Norte—Gutalac and Siocon—have been declared under a state of calamity.
Nine other areas devastated by Vinta were previously placed under a state of calamity including the entire Lanao del Norte; Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur; Labason and Salug municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte; Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay; and the towns of Balabac, Aborlan and Bataraza in Palawan.
The approaching storm has caused new worries for residents of Biliran, one of the provinces severely damaged by Urduja on Dec. 16.
Merlie Ningasca, 53, said Naval, the provincial capital, was still reeling from the devastation.
Traumatized
“We are scared. We have not fully recovered because of Urduja and yet there are reports that there is another possible storm coming to our place,” said the mother of three children.
Landslides wrought havoc to her barangay of Santo Niño, 2 kilometers away from the Naval town center.
Raul Villordon, Naval municipal disaster management officer, said residents now knew what to do when another storm lashes the town.
“They are still in trauma due to what they have experienced when Urduja hit Naval,” he said. “They themselves evacuate to their designated evacuation centers like our gym and schools.”
The landslides triggered by Urduja’s rains killed 25 people in Naval, 20 of them from Barangay Lucsoon where six people remained missing.
Villordon said the effort to retrieve the missing under tons of debris would continue until all six were recovered.
“That is the desire of their loved ones though we are facing difficulties in recovering them due to bad weather and the boulders that entombed them,” he said. —REPORTS FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE, JAYMEE T. GAMIL AND JOEY A. GABIETA