Weather to improve gradually Sunday

source: gmanews

Filipinos may still have to bring out their umbrellas on Sunday as state weather forecasters said the improvement of the weather following the exit of tropical storm “Falcon" (Meari) will be “gradual."

Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecaster Leny Ruiz said Sunday will still likely be cloudy.

“Bukas inaasahan nating magiging cloudy, hindi natin inaasahan magiging sunny weather agad. (Pero ang ulan), hindi kasing lakas noong nakaraang araw at ngayon," Ruiz said on government radio dzRB.

Rains continued to fall on parts of Metro Manila Saturday, hours after Falcon departed. The tropical storm dumped rains and caused floods in several parts of the country this week.

“By tomorrow (Sunday) there will be gradual improvement," Ruiz said, adding the rains are caused by the southwest monsoon that Falcon had enhanced.

“Maaring by Monday bubuti ang panahon, pero ngayon at bukas hindi pa," he added.

Floods in Metro Manila

Floods in Marikina City and other parts of Metro Manila briefly subsided as the heavy rains brought by tropical storm Falcon eased before dawn Saturday.

In Marikina City, the Marikina River’s water level “settled" at 18.2 meters as of 1:49 a.m., according to a report by radio dzBB’s Manny Vargas.

But Saturday’s 5 a.m. downpour prompted local authorities to go on alert anew, the report added.

Still, PAGASA insisted the river's water level had "gradually subsided."

Some 3,372 families or 14,574 people had been evacuated from their homes in Marikina City so far.

PAGASA said that as of 4 a.m., the Marikina River level was at 25.78 meters in Rodriguez; 20.99 meters in Nangka; 18.17 meters in Sto. Niño; and 14.67 meters in Rosario.

In Manila, radio dzBB’s Roland Bola reported floods began to ease along España Avenue and nearby Morayta Street at 4:44 a.m., making the roads finally passable to light vehicles.

However, the streets were littered with garbage that may have contributed to the floods by blocking drainage systems, the report said.

A later report by dzBB’s Gatus also said floods began to rise again along España Avenue as of 5:35 a.m.

source: gmanews