Back-to-back storms threaten Philippines

Manila: Back-to-back weather disturbances are threatening the Philippines on Monday amid the annual typhoon season, according to local weathermen.

“Gener”, a tropical depression, has intensified and is forecast to hit land within 24 hours over the provinces of Isabela or Aurora in northern Luzon (main island where Manila is).

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), it’s possible that Gener could strengthen into a tropical storm before “landfall”.

The storm is currently expected to head west-northwest, and could pummel northern Luzon between late and Tuesday, before it exits the Philippines by Wednesday, September 18, 2024, heading toward Hainan, China.

Storm Signal No. 1

Signal No. 1 remains in effect in certain areas of Northern Luzon, and moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in regions such as Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, and northern Aurora. Additionally, rough sea conditions are being experienced along the coasts of Northern and Central Luzon, prompting gale warnings.

Meanwhile, another tropical storm is in the offing in the country’s east.

At 11 am (on September 16, 2024), Pagasa stated that tropical storm “Pulasan”, which has already entered the Philippine area of responsibility, has maintained its strength “while struggling to organize over the waters west of the Northern Mariana Islands”, Pagasa reported.

The weather forecast is valid until 11 pm on Monday.

On Monday at 1.43 pm, Pagasa warned that moderate to heavy rainshowers with lightning and strong winds are expected over the provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Metro Manila, Quezon, Laguna and Batangas — within the next 2 hours.

“All are advised to take precautionary measures against the impacts associated with these hazards which include flash floods and landslides,” the agency stated.

On Friday, six people were killed in the Philippines after tropical storm "Bebinca" slammed into the central and southern Philippines, and brought strong winds and floods.

Four children on the way home from school in Malabang municipality in the southern province of Lanao del Sur were killed Friday when a huge tree fell on the motorised tricycle they were riding during the storm, municipal police Christina Obina told AFP.

In Zamboanga Peninsula, about 200km away from Lanao del sur, a two-year-old girl and a woman were killed in two separate incidents due to trees falling on their houses, the regional disaster official Angelito Casinillo told AFP.

Bebinca has displaced around 13,000 people and damaged roads and other infrastructure in the Southeast Asian nation.

The national disaster council said the typhoon also left the country with at least 11 injured and two missing.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, killing dozens of people.