InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED 7:18pm) The state weather agency downgraded once more from Red to 'Yellow Warning' its advisory for Metro Manila shortly before 7 pm, even as rains kept many key roads flooded, making the return home a hard commute for people who had gone back to work on Wednesday.
The latest PAGASA advisory said the public should “expect Light to Moderate (2.5-7.0 mm/hr) rains with occasional moderate to heavy (8.0-15.0 mm/hr) rains over QC, Marikina, Manila, Pasig and nearby areas within 2 hours [from 6:50 to 8:50pm).”
Residents in flood/landslides-risk areas were advised to take precautions and watch out for the next warning.
In its monitoring of the earlier two-hour period (4:30-6:30pm) covered by a Red Warning, PAGASA reported “heavy to intense rainfall (15.0-27.0 mm/hr) over QC and Marikina,” and “moderate to heavy rainfall (8.0-12.0 mm/hr) . . over Manila and Pasig.”
It reported “Light to Moderate rainfall (1.0-7.0 mm/hr) over the rest of Metro Manila.”
Highest rainfall alert earlier
The Red warning, the highest rainfall alert, was again raised over Metro Manila Wednesday afternoon after hours of torrential rains pounded the National Capital Region, literally dampening the hopes of those who thought the rains would continue to ease and floods will ebb. This, as an irked President Aquino cancelled a visit to Marikina, called an impromptu meeting with NDRRMC and said his confidence in PAGASA was 'diminishing.'
The Red warning was raised at 4:30 p.m. by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration a mere five hours after the weather bureau had announced it was no longer issuing such warnings as rainfall turned light to moderate in the morning.
PAGASA said rains were torrential (30-50 mm/hr.) over Manila, Marikina and Quezon cities, heavy to intense (15-30 mm/hr.) over Pasig, Taguig, Pasay and the Camanava area, and moderate to heavy (7.5-15 mm/hr.) over the rest of the metropolis.
It blamed the intensified rains on “the effect of the series of thunderstorms embedded in the southwest monsoon” and warned of continued heavy to torrential rains over the next few hours.
The Red warning was raised a mere hour after PAGASA raised the rainfall warning from Yellow to Green.
Days of intense rainfall had inundated most of Metro Manila and many provinces adjacent to the capital region, affecting more than a million people.
President peeved at PAGASA?
The quirky turns in the weather—and what he may perceive as the absence of clearer explanations-- have apparently gotten the ire of President Benigno Aquino III, who admonished a representative of the state weather bureau for not being able to give a definite forecast of the movement of the southwest monsoon that has paralyzed Metro Manila for two days now.
Aquino called an unscheduled meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday afternoon after visiting an evacuation site in Muntinlupa City.
From an evacuation site in Muntinlupa, Mr. Aquino went to NDRRMC and cancelled two other visits to Marikina and Quezon City.
The President asked Meliton Guzman, a representative of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration regarding the forecast for the habagat for Thursday.
Guzman said the weather bureau is expecting "possible moderate to heavy rains."
"My confidence level in Pag-asa is diminishing...Would you like to consult your director first so we can be sure?" the President asked pointedly. With a report by Chichi Conde, InterAksyon.com
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