Flash flood, landslide warnings up in Mindanao as potential cyclone nears PHL

Published June 6, 2013 1:24pm

(Updated 4:56 p.m.) A potential cyclone is now inside the Philippine area of responsibility and may head towards Mindanao, state weather forecasters said Thursday.

PAGASA forecaster Alvin Pura said the LPA formed inside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) Thursday morning and is embedded within the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

"'Yung inaasahang LPA nabuo na. Nariyan nakapaloob sa ITCZ ... sa loob na ito (ng PAR)," Pura said in an interview on dzBB radio.

But he said there is still no storm signal raised yet, as PAGASA is still monitoring the LPA to see whether or not it will intensify into a cyclone.

Should it become a cyclone, it will be locally codenamed Dante.

Meanwhile, PAGASA forecaster Joey Figuracion said that there is also a chance that the disturbance may veer north towards Taiwan.

"Kung napunta sa area ng Pacific papuntang Japan, pwede maging ganap na bagyo," Pura said.

Flash flood, landslide warnings up in Mindanao

PAGASA's 11 a.m. advisory said the LPA and the ITCZ may trigger flash floods and landslides in Mindanao.

It said that, as of 8 a.m., the LPA was estimated at 580 km east of Hinatuan, Surigao Del Sur, embedded in the ITCZ.

"These weather systems will affect the Bicol region, Visayas and Mindanao," it said, adding the whole Mindanao "will experience cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides."

"Residents in these areas are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures," it added.

Heavy rains on Wednesday night left many parts of Davao City flooded, leaving thousands of commuters stranded in the downtown area. Keith Bacongco

Davao floods

Some residents of Davao City were preemptively evacuated from their homes Wednesday night as heavy rain caused floods in several parts of the city.

The water level at Balusong River started to overflow as of 10:30 p.m., said the city government's disaster risk reduction and management council in a post on its Facebook page.

According to a report by Marisol Abdurahman on GMA News TV's Balitanghali on Thursday, the following areas were flooded Wednesday night:

Ecoland Phase 2, 4 and 7
SM area and Quimpo Blvd.
R. Castillo Street
Bankerohan near Magsaysay Park
Marfori and Matina highway
Santa Ana Avenue
Magsaysay Avenue

The rain started 7 p.m. Wednesday and stopped three hours later, according to the same television report.

A separate report by Vonne Aquino also on Balitanghali said that around 20 barangays in the city's downtown area were also flooded.

The city's DRRMC noted persistent rain in the uplands.

No one was initially reported injured or missing in the wake of the floods.

PAGASA has not yet declared the official start of the rainy season, but has said that rains from the LPA coming in from the East may usher in the season.

Evacuation

A total of 317 families from Matina, Talomo and Maa villages were evacuated Wednesday evening due to the floods, according to the Office of Civil Defense-Davao regional director Loreto Rirao.

The evacuees were housed at village halls last night, said National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chief Eduardo Del Rosario.

“The incident caused heavy traffic in Davao City and some roads were not passable,” Del Rosario said.

Rirao said the evacuees returned to their houses Thursday morning as the "situation has normalized this morning."

Landslides in Bukidnon, Zambo Norte

Rain from the inter-tropical convergence zone triggered flash floods and landslides that damaged some P2 million and affected more than 100 people in Bukidnon and Zamboanga del Norte, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Thursday evening.

Parts of Mindanao are already bracing for more floods and landslides from a potential cyclone that moved closer to Mindanao Thursday afternoon.

In its 6 p.m. update, the NDRRMC said a rain-induced landslide occurred at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at the national highway at Sitio Kipolot in Barangay Palacapao in QUezon town in Bukidnon.

"The debris covered an estimated 10 to 15 meters of the national highway," it said.

While no casualty was reported, the highway was temporarily impassable. As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, one lane was already passable, the NDRRMC said.

Meanwhile, in Sergio Osmeña in Zamboanga del Norte, flash floods and landslides hit Barangays Kauswagan, San Isidro, Tinago and Pedagan.

These affected 19 families or 111 people in Barangay Kauswagan, and caused a power interruption.

At least 16 houses were destroyed while corn and rice fields were destroyed and rubber plantations and crops like bananas, root crops and fruit trees were damaged.

The town's public market, school buildings, day care centers and roads were affected while roads in Barangay Tinago and San Isidro were impassable due to landslides. — With reports from Amanda Fernandez and Marc Jayson Cayabyab/KG/TJD/RSJ/ELR, GMA News

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