Palawan braces for ‘Agaton’ landfall

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — Central mainland Palawan, including its capital Puerto Princesa City, is bracing for the landfall of Tropical Depression “Agaton” expected late on Tuesday.

Agaton, currently classified as a tropical depression, is expected to intensify into a tropical storm when it hits the mainland at around 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to Sonny Pajarilla, Palawan station chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

In a briefing of Puerto Princesa officials on Tuesday morning, Pajarilla said Agaton was expected to carry maximum sustained winds of 55 kph with a gustiness of over 90 kph and moderate to heavy rains.

It is expected to exit the province via the West Philippine Sea on Wednesday morning.

“We expect Agaton to make landfall as a tropical storm between 6 to 9 p.m. today [Tuesday],” Pajarilla said.

Unlike Tropical Storm “Urduja” (international name: Kai-Tak) which brought heavy rains of some 34 mm per hour, Pajarilla said Agaton is expected to have lesser rains, which they estimate to be around 15 mm per hour.

Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron has ordered the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office to anticipate flashflooding in low-lying areas of the city.

The Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Office had earlier announced pre-positioning of relief goods and rescue facilities in strategic areas of the province, including the designation of evacuation areas.

Meanwhile, search-and-rescue missions conyinues in the remote southern island of Mangsee where some 50 people have remained missing since Tropical Storm “Vinta” (international name: Tembin) hit the area before Christmas Day. /atm