Tropical depression Urduja (international name: Kai-tak) hovered slowly over the Visayas on Sunday after leaving at least 3 people killed, as a new storm threatened to hit the country just days before Christmas.
Urduja may hit land for a second time, after causing floods that forced 77,000 people to flee their homes, PAGASA meteorologist Aldczar Aurelio told DZMM.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 60 kilometers per hour and gusts of 90 kph, Urduja slammed into the country’s third-largest island Samar on Saturday and tore through a region devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) 4 years ago, the state weather service said.
Urduja was spotted 50 kilometers southwest of Catarman, Northern Samar at 7 a.m. as the new storm, which will be named Vinta, neared the eastern coast, at 1,990 kilometers east of Mindanao.
Vinta could follow the same track as Urduja, but is unlikely to affect its movement, Aurelio said.
Heavy rains will persist in western Visayas while light rains may trigger landslides and floods in the already saturated eastern Visayas, he said.
Tropical storm signal number 1 remains hoisted over the following areas, which may experience winds of 30 to 60 kph in the next 36 hours:
Southern part of Occidental Mindoro
Southern part of Oriental Mindoro
Albay
Sorsogon
Masbate including Burias and Ticao
islands
Northern part of Palawan including Cuyo at Calamian islands
Aklan
Antique
Capiz
Iloilo
Guimaras
Northern part of Negros Occidental
Northern part of Cebu
Northern Samar
Samar
Eastern Samar
Leyte
Biliran
Urduja may leave the Philippine area of responsibility on Wednesday or Thursday if it continues moving westward at 15 kph.
The northeastern monsoon or amihan, the dominant weather system during the Christmas season, tends to move typhoons to a lower location, making Southern Luzon and Visayas more prone to landfalls, according to state-run channel Panahon TV.
Christmas typhoons “Nona” hit land 5 times in 2015 while “Nina” made 6 landfalls in 2016.
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