No landfall seen for ‘Maria’

Typhoon “Maria” will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” and will bring rains over parts of the country, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Maria was projected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Monday morning and will have the local name “Gardo.”

But weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio said the storm was not likely to make landfall in any part of the Philippines.

As of 3 p.m. on Saturday, the typhoon was at 1,960 kilometers east of Central Luzon, packing winds of 185 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 225 kph. It was moving north-northwest at 15 kph.

‘Habagat’

The enhanced habagat will bring occasional rains over Western Visayas and western sections of Calabarzon and Mimaropa from Sunday until Monday, Aurelio said.

As of 6 p.m., the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority issued a flood alert on E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue in Cubao, Quezon City.

Waist-deep

Both lanes of the road were unpassable to all types of vehicles due to waist-deep floods.

Pagasa earlier said heavy rains with strong winds due to thunderstorms were likely in Metro Manila and provinces nearby.

The weather bureau said areas in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bulacan, Pampanga, Quezon province, Batangas, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Zambales and areas nearby were likely to experience rainy weather, too.

Pagasa advised the public to be on alert for flash floods and landslides. —WITH REPORTS FROM CATHERINE GONZALES AND DEXTER CABALZA