A LOW pressure area (LPA) spotted west of Central Luzon may intensify into a tropical depression, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday.
However, the LPA is not expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), said PAGASA weather specialist Obet Badrina in a public weather forecast.
Badrina also said a cloud cluster inside the PAR may develop into an LPA, “particularly in the northeastern part of our Philippine area of responsibility.”
“We continue to monitor this cloud cluster in the eastern section of northern Luzon,” he added.
As of 3 a.m. yesterday, the LPA was some 900 km west of Central Luzon or outside the PAR, Badrina said adding it was heading toward Vietnam or southern China.
“Based on our analysis, it may intensify into a tropical depression within the 24 hours,” he said.
Badrina said the trough of the LPA will bring cloudy skies with rain showers to the western sections of Central Luzon and northern Luzon.
Meanwhile, a report from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said more than 3,000 people have been displaced and are currently staying in five evacuation centers in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue since Friday, due to the flooding resulting from continued heavy rains in Cebu as a result of the prevailing southwest monsoon.
Data from the DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Management, Information, and Communication (DROMIC) Division showed that as of August 17, 817 families or 3,352 persons from six barangays have been affected by floods, but only 816 families or 3,347 persons of which are staying the evacuation centers.
DSWD said it has been coordinating closely with the local governments of Cebu City and Mandaue following requests for food packs and non-food relief items. The amount of assistance extended was not yet available as of press time.
The DSWD’s field office in Central Visayas still has over P67 million worth of cash and food and non-food relief items on standby.
The agency, meanwhile, reported that it still assisting the 7,793 families or 27,081 persons displaced and affected by the southwest monsoon or “habagat,” and tropical cyclones “Crising,” “Dante,” and “Emong” since July in Metro Manila and Regions I (Ilocos), II (Cagayan Valley), III (Central Luzon), IV-A (Calabarzon), IV-B (Mimaropa), V (Albay), Negros Island (NIR), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), X (Western Mindanao), XII (Soccsksargen), Cordillera Administrative (CAR), and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). – With Jocelyn Reyes
