PAGASA: More floods, landslides threaten parts of Luzon

After causing several deaths and isolating many areas there, heavy rains that may cause flash floods and landslides continue to threaten Northern and Central Luzon Friday. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said this is due to the tail-end of a cold front affecting parts of Luzon. "Magiging maulan pa rin doon. May tail-end of a cold front na nakaapekto sa taas, kaya may mga pag-ulan pa riyan. Maari pang magkaroon ng flash floods at landslides," PAGASA forecaster Buddy Javier said in an interview on dzBB radio. (It will be very rainy there because of a tail-end of a cold front. There will be rains that may cause flash floods and landslides.) He said the affected areas include Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, and Apayao, which had suffered casualties and damage due to the heavy rains in past days. PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin also said rains loom over Visayas and Mindanao due to an inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). "The whole country will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over the eastern section of Northern and Central Luzon and Visayas which may trigger flashfloods and landslides," it said. In its 10 p.m. update, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said at least six people had been killed due to landslides caused by the rains. The deaths included five in San Mariano in Isabela, and one in Bulanao in Kalinga. At least two gates of the Magat Dam were opened as of 9 p.m. Thursday as the water level there reached 193.19 meters, above the 193-meter spilling level. Some 3,379 families or 16,584 people in 41 villages in 11 towns and one city were affected. Of these, 305 families or 1,422 people are staying in 17 evacuation centers. At least 13 roads and 16 bridges in Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Aurora, and Apayao provinces were not passable, even as floods in 15 villages in Casiguran (Aurora) have subsided. — LBG, GMANews.TV