Cavite folk told to 'evacuate, monitor, watch out' as rains continue in Luzon

Flooding in Cubao area in Quezon City (File photo by Bernard Testa)

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

(Updated 9:57 am) MANILA, Philippines - Residents of Cavite are being told to stay on alert as the downpour in the area and all over Luzon has continued and threatens to swell waterways and bring massive floods.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), about 56.8 millimeters of rains were dumped at their observation site in Sangley Point for over four hours early Tuesday.

This is about the same amount of rain that the destructive tropical storm Ondoy dumped in an hour (56.83mm/hr). Ondoy unleashed a record month's worth of rain all over Metro Manila in just six hours back in September 2009.

In their advisory issued past 3 am, they warned residents in low-lying areas in Cavite to be on the lookout as the rains have continued to increase by the hour.

"Residents in high risk areas are advised to EVACUATE to higher grounds and MONITOR the weather condition and WATCH OUT for the next warning," Pagasa said via their official Twitter account.

Julie Nines, Pagasa weather forecaster, said that while the rains in Cavite in four hours have reached Ondoy's hourly record they cannot conclude that it would be a repeat of the 2009 deluge.

"We can' say that it's Ondoy-like," Nines told InterAksyon.  "But it's really heavy rain."

Pagasa categorizes heavy rain as that reaching 7.5 mm/hr and above.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila residents have also been experiencing severe heavy rains since midnight.

Pagasa observed that Manila port area registered 43.4 mm of rains in four hours, while their rain gauge in Quezon City Science Garden recorded 22.9 mm of water in just three hours.

The rains in Cavite and Metro Manila are brought by the passing low pressure area or developing storm, which was last spotted by Pagasa 30 kilometers northeast of Ambulong, Batangas. It continues to move northwest and had passed by Central Luzon early Tuesday. 

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