InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- The sudden flooding of Roxas Boulevard in Manila Wednesday was reminiscent of the 2011 storm surge that swamped the same road at the height of typhoon "Pedring" late last year.
But a weather forecaster explained that what happened Wednesday morning was caused by the effects of the southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” coupled with the high tide.
Gladys Saludes of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said in a phone interview that the "monsoon surge" saw winds of between 52 to 71 kilometers per hour hit the Manila Bay coastline at 8:42 a.m. just as the tide rose by 1.43 meters.
The thigh-deep flood shut the stretch of Roxas Boulevard, from Quirino to Plaza Rajah Sulayman to traffic and also forced the US Embassy to suspend operations for the day.
"May LPA (low-pressure area) po tayo northwest of Laoag then ‘yung bagyong 'Gener.' Itong dalawang system na ito naghatak ng habagat so malakas po ‘yung surge ng monsoon. Ito po ay sinabayan pa ng high tide (There is an LPA northwest of Laoag and then there is typhoon ‘Gener.’ These two systems enhanced the southwest monsoon which is they the monsoon surge was strong. This coincided with the high tide)," Saludes told Interaksyon.com, adding that “Gener” is too far away from Metro Manila to cause a storm surge.
Saludes said the LPA off Laoag is being closely monitored as it could develop into a tropical depression.
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