PAGASA: Potential cyclone near Mindanao may bring flashfloods

A potential cyclone has entered Philippine territory and may bring flash floods and landslides to Mindanao, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said on Monday. PAGASA forecaster Ben Oris said the low-pressure area (LPA) was estimated at 140 kilometers (km) southeast of Zamboanga City as of 2 a.m. and may be codenamed "Luis" if it becomes a cyclone. "May tsansa maging bagyo ito. Sa ngayon ito nasa inter-tropical convergence zone (There is still a chance it can become a cyclone. As of now it is in the inter-tropical convergence zone)," Oris said in an interview on dzBB radio. But he said the LPA, which is embedded along the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) affecting Mindanao, had already made landfall as of early Monday. On the other hand, PAGASA said the LPA may bring flash floods and landslides on parts of Mindanao. "Visayas and Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over Mindanao which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated light rains," PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. The agency added moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the east to northwest with slight to moderate seas. Meanwhile, PAGASA said strong to gale force winds may affect the seaboards of Luzon. It advised fishing boats and other small seacraft not to venture out to sea, and larger sea vessels to be alert against big waves. – VVP, GMANews.TV