THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is monitoring two low pressure areas (LPAs) inside and outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).
The two LPAs are not directly affecting any part of the country as they are far from the landmass, said PAGASA weather specialist Daniel James Villamil.
The LPA inside the PAR was some 730 km east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes as of 3 a.m. yesterday, said Villamil while the LPA outside PAR was some 2,025 km east of southeastern Luzon.
Villamil said the two LPAs are moving generally eastward, meaning they are moving away from the country. He said there is slim chance the two LPAs will strengthen into a tropical depression within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Villamil said the southwest monsoon continues to affect the country. He said Batanes and Babuyan Islands will experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the southwest monsoon. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy and cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and thunders.
The last three tropical cyclones of the country were tropical depression “Ineng,” typhoon “Hannah” and super typhoon “Goring.” They enhanced the southwest monsoon, causing the death of two persons.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the southwest monsoon enhanced by the three tropical cyclones affected 292,111 families or 1,086,837 individuals in 2,363 barangays in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Cordillera Administrative Region(CAR) and National Capital Region.
Of the number, 810 families (2,829 individuals) are still housed in 62 evacuation centers or staying with their relatives or friends as of yesterday.
Cost of damage to agriculture in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, CAR was at P1.47 billion, the NDRRMC said.
The cost of damage to infrastructure in the five regions and in Ilocos was at around P906 million.
