Red rainfall warning hits 3 provinces; Metro Manila among 10 under orange alert

MANILA, Philippines — The southwest monsoon (habagat) is still expected to bring torrential rains and severe flooding over Zambales, Bataan and Occidental Mindoro on Wednesday, July 23, PAGASA reported.

In its 5 a.m. weather advisory, PAGASA has forecast to maintain a red rainfall warning over Zambales and Bataan until Thursday, July 24. 

The alert warns of extreme rainfall exceeding 200 millimeters, signalling severe flooding and landslides in vulnerable areas of the provinces.

Areas under red rainfall warnings must comply with evacuation directives from local disaster risk reduction offices and relocate to safer, elevated areas.

An orange rainfall warning has also been issued over Metro Manila, Pangasinan, Benguet, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Rizal. 

These provinces, including Metro Manila, face dangerous flooding threats, particularly in urban and low-lying areas near rivers. Landslides are also possible in moderately to highly vulnerable zones.

PAGASA expects to maintain the orange warning for these areas, including Occidental Mindoro, through Thursday. By that time, Pangasinan and Benguet may already be out of orange rainfall warning status, while Tarlac and Benguet will be under the yellow rainfall warning.

State of calamity. Quezon City and Cavite declared calamity status after widespread flooding forced mass evacuations. This allows the local governments to tap the quick response fund for recovery operations, with Manila expected to follow suit on Wednesday.

Another 23 provinces throughout Luzon and Visayas remain under yellow rainfall warning due to the southwest monsoon and low-pressure area:

• La Union
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Ifugao
• Mountain Province
• Nueva Ecija
• Quezon
• Oriental Mindoro
• Palawan
• Marinduque
• Romblon
• Masbate
• Sorsogon
• Albay
• Camarines Sur
• Catanduanes
• Antique
• Iloilo
• Cagayan
• Apayao
• Ilocos Norte
• Ilocos Sur
• Abra
• Kalinga

Most provinces will see warnings lifted by Thursday, though Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Marinduque, Romblon, Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Abara, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Ifugao will remain under alert.

By Friday, Metro Manila and provinces under orange warnings will likely drop to yellow alerts as the habagat brings 50 to 100 millimeters of rainfall and localized flooding.

Other weather developments

However, it should be noted that PAGASA is also tracking Tropical Depression Dante, which is 880 kilometers east of extreme Northern Luzon, along with a low pressure area over Calayan Island’s waters that has a high probability of becoming a tropical cyclone.

No wind signals have been raised yet, but if the low-pressure area becomes a tropical depression, PAGASA said it will automatically hoist wind signals over some parts of Northern Luzon. 

PAGASA urges the public to monitor its heavy rainfall warnings, which provide three-hour forecasts at the municipal level for more precise guidance on class and work suspensions. Broader weather advisories, on the other hand, cover 24-hour periods at the provincial level and may lack short-term precision.