Tropical depression spotted near Southern Mindanao

State forecasters on Monday warned that frequent rains brought about by a tropical depression near Southern Mindanao may trigger flashfloods and landslides in Eastern Visayas. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) spotted the tropical depression some 1,220 kms east of Southern Mindanao. It carried maximum winds of 55 kph near the center and was moving westward at nine kph. Pagasa officials said Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and isolated thunderstorms. The showers will likely become frequent rains over Eastern Visayas, which was badly hit last month by relentless rains. A massive landslide smothered Guinsaugon village in Southern Leyte at Eastern Visayas last February 17. Disaster response teams gave up search and rescue efforts after thickening mud made their work increasingly dangerous. Well over 1,000 people are feared dead in the disaster. Meanwhile, the tail-end of a cold front extended over the eastern sections of Luzon and Visayas. State forecasters expect Eastern Luzon to have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers becoming widespread rains over Bicol region, including Aurora and Quezon provinces. Aurora and Quezon also suffered huge casualties when successive typhoons hammered several towns in late 2004. Moderate to strong winds blowing from northeast and east will prevail over Northern and Eastern Luzon with moderate to rough seas. Winds elsewhere will be light to moderate blowing from the northeast and east with slight to moderate seas.-GMANews.TV