Weather: Floods, landslides threaten north Luzon

Flash floods and landslides that may be triggered by two low-pressure areas threaten parts of northern Luzon, even as state weather forecasters on Thursday said there is little chance the LPAs will intensify into a cyclone. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that while a cyclone formation is possible in the next few days, the LPAs would have been moving away from Philippine territory by that time. "Mula sa south dito naman ang pag-ulan sa northern part at yan bunga ng dalawang low-pressure area," PAGASA forecaster Elvie Enriquez said in an interview on dzBB radio. Meanwhile, independent weather station Typhoon2000 had said a tropical cyclone formation is possible along the Luzon-Taiwan area between July 11 and 16. If the cyclone forms within Philippine territory, it will be codenamed "Goring." While PAGASA's Enriquez said there was little chance of the LPAs becoming cyclones, she insisted "hindi natin pwede i-discount ang possibility ng paglakas ng LPAs. Aabangan natin ang development lalo na malapit sila sa kalupaan." Still, she said the LPAs can still affect parts of the country by enhancing the southwest monsoon. "Maaring nasa labas na ng Philippine area of responsibility dahil malapit na sila sa borderline (pero) nahahatak nila ang southwest monsoon," she said. In the meantime, she said Filipinos can expect rainy but humid weather. PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin said that as of 2 a.m., the first LPA was estimated at 250 km northeast of Basco, Batanes. The second was estimated at 350 km west-southwest of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte. A monsoon trough is also affecting Luzon and Visayas, it added. "The whole country will will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over Northern Luzon which may trigger flashfloods and landslides," it said. — LBG, GMA News