'Basyang' moving closer to Mindanao

State weather forecasters reported early morning Tuesday that tropical depression "Basyang" continued approaching Southern Mindanao and was hovering some 860 kms from the mainland. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said "Basyang" packed maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the center and is expected to move west northwest at 15 kph. The diffused tail-end of a cold front still extended over the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas. Pagasa again warned that flashfloods and landslides may hammer the eastern sections of Visayas and Mindanao because isolated thunderstorms will likely turn into frequent rains. Southern Leyte in Eastern Visayas suffered tremendous casualties last month after continuous rains triggered a massive landslide. Bicol region, Visayas and Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers. Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast and east will prevail over the eastern sections of the country with moderate to rough seas. In other parts of the country, winds will be light to moderate blowing from the northeast and east with slight to moderate seas.-GMANews.TV