Still reeling from Yolanda, Leyte-Samar braces for more heavy rain

UPDATED 12:30pm The heavy rain throughout southern Philippines since last week was apparently just the start of stormy weather. A low-pressure area that has caused more than 20 deaths thus far continued to strengthen Thursday, with state weather forecasters saying to expect continued heavy rains until the weekend.

PAGASA said the storm, code-named Agaton, is likely to affect major portions of Eastern Visayas, including Samar and Leyte provinces.

 

PAGASA forecaster Buddy Javier said their models also show the LPA may make landfall over Eastern Visayas.

In a phone interview with GMA News Online as of noon, PAGASA said that the LPA is unlikely to develop into a tropical storm before it exits the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) this weekend.

However, the LPA will still bring heavy rains to the Visayas region.
 

Eastern Visayas is still recovering from the devastation brought by super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which left more than 6,100 dead last year.

 

Flash floods, landslide threats

 

As of 4 a.m. Thursday, PAGASA said the LPA was estimated at 120 km east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

 

In its 5 a.m. bulletin, PAGASA also said the northeast monsoon is affecting Luzon.

 

"Eastern Visayas and Caraga will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides," it said.

 

Also, it said Bicol and the rest of Visayas and northern Mindanao will have "cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms."

 

Cagayan Valley and Aurora province will be cloudy with light rain while Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will be "partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated light rains."

 

PAGASA said the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

 

Meanwhile, PAGASA said moderate to strong winds from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and coming from the northeast to northwest over Mindanao.

 

The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be moderate to rough, it added.  —  ELR/HS/TJD, GMA News