MANILA, Philippines - A low-pressure area off Mindanao intensified into a tropical depression yesterday even as the state weather bureau lifted storm warning signals in eight areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Public storm warning signal No. 1 remained hoisted over Palawan as of 5 p.m. yesterday as tropical depression “Auring,†the first tropical cyclone to enter the country this year, traversed the Sulu Sea.
At 10 a.m. yesterday, signal no. 1 was also raised over the Southern part of Negros provinces, Siquijor Island, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), however, lowered storm signals in the areas at 5 p.m. as Auring moved toward the Sulu Sea.
As of 4 p.m., Auring was spotted at 190 km southeast of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan with maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center.
It was moving westward at 28 kph.
Auring is expected to bring moderate to heavy rains (five to 15 millimeters per hour) over areas within its 250-km radius.
PAGASA said big waves will prevail over the eastern seaboards of the country and over the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon due to the northeast monsoon and over the western seaboard of Visayas and Mindanao due to Auring.
Auring is predicted to be at 440 km southwest of Puerto Princesa City or outside the Philippine area of responsibility this afternoon.
Families evacuated,passengers stranded
At least 130 families have been evacuated from two villages in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte due to floods spawned by Auring.
Director Adriano Fuego, regional chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said two houses made of light materials built near the riverbank in Roxas town were destroyed.
“No casualty has been reported so far. The wind was slight and not that strong,†Fuego said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers were stranded after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) cancelled the trips of all watercraft plying the Western Mindanao routes. – With Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude