A LOW pressure area (LPA) off eastern Mindanao is forecast to strengthen into a tropical depression and will be named “Paeng.”
PAGASA said the LPA entered the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) yesterday morning and was some 790 km east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur as of 3 p.m. yesterday.
PAGASA weather specialist Benison Estareja said the LPA may intensify into a tropical depression either on Tuesday or Wednesday. If it becomes into a tropical depression, it will be the country’s 16th tropical cyclone for the year and the fourth this month.
“On Thursday it will approach the landmass and there is a scenario it will make landfall somewhere in Luzon or even in Eastern Visayas based on our climatology,” said Estareja.
Meanwhile, former tropical depression “Obet” was some 485 km east of Basco, Batanes as of 4 a.m. yesterday, heading towards China.
Obet exited PAR on Saturday after passing close to Batanes and later weakened into an LPA.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Obet has affected 3,217 families or 10,894 individuals in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley region, and the Cordillera Administrative Region,
Of the number, 631 families or 2,134 individuals were displaced although the number has gone down yesterday to just 344 families or 1,264 individuals who are staying inside 10 evacuation centers or with their relatives and friends.
A Cagayan official earlier reported that a fisherman and his wife from Abulug town died of drowning after they went fishing despite a gale warning. Their bodies were found in Sanchez Mira town last Friday.
Yesterday, NDRRMC spokesman Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the death of the couple was not related to Obet, citing report from the local disaster risk reduction and management office.
