El Niño to affect 10 more provinces by end February -task force

The El Niño phenomenon would affect 10 more provinces by the end of February, according to Task Force El Niño.

According to a Saturday 24 Oras Weekend report, 41 provinces were already under the influence of the El Niño.

However, weather service PAGASA warned we still have not yet experienced the full effects of El Niño, especially since the Amihan or Northeast Monsoon, which brings cold air, is not yet over.

"Wala pa tayo sa warm and dry season months natin. Mas matindi pa ang ating mararanasan sa mga susunod na panahon," said Ana Lisa Solis of PAGASA's Climatology and Agrometeorology Division in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

"Itong El Niño, posibleng up to March, April, at May ay mararanasan pa rin natin. Pwede siyang mag-extend up to June."

(We are not yet in our warm and dry season months. We will experience more intense weather in the coming season. We will experience El Niño, possibly up to March or April and May. It can extend up to June.)

On Friday, the temperature in Legazpi City in Albay reached 44 degrees Celsius.

PAGASA said the heat may reach 40 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon.

Meanwhile, the El Niño had already caused P151 million in damage to agriculture in the Western Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula.

Because of the threat, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said there was a need to monitor the price of goods, food security, water supplies, electricity, and the health sector.

"So far, wala pa pong naitatala ang Department of Health na anumang outbreak. Kung meron po tayong kakulangan ng malinis na tubig na maiinom, so, pwede pong magkaroon ng cholera, typhoid," said Assistant Secretary Joey Villanueva, Task Force El Niño spokesperson.

(So far, the Department of Health has not yet recorded any outbreak. If there is a lack of clean drinking water, cholera and typhoid fever cases may result.) — Sherylin Untalan/DVM/KG, GMA Integrated News