The unrelenting whack by the dry spell El Niño has forced many local government units to declare a state of calamity, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
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This developed as the weather bureau said the Visayas, Mindanao, and parts of Luzon could experience flash floods during the 24-hour period ending at 4 am Sunday due to severe thunderstorms that might lash these areas.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) raised the possibility, noting that the easterlies might bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms in the Visayas, and Mindanao, as well as Luzon’s Bicol, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa regions.
Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms may occur in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, except Batanes province and the Babuyan Islands, PAGASA said.
“Some of the thunderstorms expected in the Visayas, Mindanao, and parts of Luzon may be severe – raising the possibility of flash floods,” PAGASA weather forecaster, Raymond Ordinario, said, adding that the thunderstorms, whether severe or not, can occur between noon and late evening.
NDRRMC executive director and Office of Civil Defense administrator Ricardo Jalad said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday that 25 cities and municipalities and five provinces had declared a state of calamity as of Friday, allowing them to use their calamity funds.
The latest local government unit to declare a state of calamity is the town of T’boli in South Cotabato. Agricultural losses and damage in the town has already reached P47 million.
Cebu City was also placed under a state of calamity due to the dry spell, RGMA Cebu’s Norman Mendoza reported on Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday.
A total 164,672 farmers in Regions CAR, I, II, III, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, and BARMM were affected.
Damage to agriculture was placed at P5,051,249,880.04 in Regions CAR, I, II, III, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, and BARMM.
For Luzon’s northernmost Batanes province and the Babuyan Islands, however, PAGASA forecast cloudy skies with light rains due to the frontal system affecting these areas.
These conditions will have no significant impact, PAGASA noted.
Moderate to rough coastal waters, with waves up to 3.1 meters high, are likely in northern Luzon during the 24-hour forecast period as moderate to strong winds blowing from northeast to east are possible.
PAGASA also forecast that the rest of the country would have slight to moderate coastal waters with waves as high as 2.1 meters, from light to moderate winds blowing southeastwards.
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