Manila: Tropical depression Kajiki is now on its way to Palawan in the western portion of Luzon after dumping rains in the Visayas and causing flooding in low-lying portions of Cebu.

As of 4pm on Saturday, storm signals had been lowered by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) after signal number 1 was observed over some areas of the Visayas.

On Friday evening, storm surges swept coastal areas in the eastern coast of Cebu as 65km/h winds brought about by Kajiki (locally named ‘Basyang’) lashed seaside areas of the Central Philippine province. In the coastal town of Asturias in Cebu, at least 20 houses had been destroyed by storm surges.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Saturday update, more than 18,000 people had been displaced due to bad weather conditions brought by Kajiki, the second weather disturbance to visit the country this year.

Hours before Kajiki struck, local government administrators in Cebu ordered preemptive evacuation of the affected areas. Television footage aired by ABS-CBN News showed families being fetched by buses and taken to evacuation centres in the island.

Massive flooding had been reported in low-lying areas of Metro Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Talisay.

By Saturday afternoon, most of those who had evacuated had returned to their homes.

News of the weather disturbance had also prompted local carriers that include the islands of Cebu, Panay, Negros, Bohol as part of their regular route, to cancel some of their flights because of the adverse weather conditions.

A total of 15 flights scheduled on Saturday were cancelled.

Aside from disrupting flights, the storm also affected ships sailing in the Visayas and northeastern Mindanao areas.

According to Pagasa, Kajiki has weakened into a tropical depression, after making landfall several times since Friday night.

Pagasa also expects Kajiki to speed away from the Philippine area of responsibility by Sunday morning.

Kajiki brought 5-15mm of rains per hour over a 400 kilometre area.

Storm surges were experienced in the coastal villages of Talisay, Naga and Lapu-Lapu City, residents were advised to evacuate around 10pm on Friday.