Tropical Storm Ondoy inosiya Luzon, Philippines, yakazara mafashamo

In an interview on dwIZ radio, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) forecaster Connie Dadivas said two weather disturbances are likely to enter Philippine territory late Wednesday or Thursday. Luzon is barely recovering from the destruction and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ondoy, which hit the Philippines over the weekend.

Ondoy struck Luzon on Saturday, bringing epic proportions of floodwater in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon. As of 6:00 am Monday, the death toll from Ondoy had reached 86 based on the tally by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). The figure, however, does not include 12 reported deaths in Antipolo City, 29 in Quezon City, and 58 in Marikina City as announced by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr.

“We see two tropical depressions outside the Philippine area of responsibility. We expect them to enter [the] Philippine boundary by late Wednesday or Thursday,” Dadivas said.

But another Pagasa forecaster, Joel Jesusa, in a separate radio interview, said the two LPAs are still far away to cause any affect on the country for now. “The two LPAs are still too far away. They are about 1,000 km away,” he said on dzXL radio. He added that the two LPAs were moving west-northwest as of Monday.

Earlier, Pagasa said Ondoy continued to move farther away from the country Sunday night, and was 560 kilometers west of Iba, Zambales as of 10:00 pm. Sunday. It packed maximum winds of 110 kilometers-per-hour (kph) near the center and gusts up to 140 kph and was moving west-northwest at 17 kph. However, Pagasa said Ondoy will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring occasional rains over the western sections of central and southern Luzon.

“Luzon will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms, while Visayas and Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms,” Pagasa said in its 5:00 am bulletin on Monday.