Sudden rain mars LRT operation, causes brownouts in Quezon City

QUEZON CITY, Philippines - A hard and sudden downpour early afternoon of Monday disrupted operations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 and caused a power transformer to explode and trigger a brownout in some parts of Quezon City. Radio dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported that trains loaded with passengers stopped at the LRT-2 station in Cubao stopped, with LRT workers trying to activate their emergency generator. Commuters on the streets sought shelterin waiting sheds. Along Roxas Boulevard in Manila and Pasay Cities, dzBB's Lito Laparan reported that the strong winds caused coconuts from trees to fall. Along EDSA, traffic was snarled as rains hampered visibility. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) earlier said tropical depression "Helen" would enhance the monsoon, which will bring rains on Luzon. - GMANews.TV