Flashfloods, landslides may hit Visayas, Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Possible flash floods and landslides may threaten parts of Visayas and Mindanao due to the low pressure area (LPA) hovering near Surigao province, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.

The NDRRMC issued the warning as the state weather bureau said the LPA has an equal chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next 24 hours.

If it becomes a tropical depression, it would be locally called “Nando,” said Alvin Pura, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, the LPA was spotted 330 kilometers east of Surigao City. It is said to be embedded along the monsoon trough and would affect Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

NDRRMC spokesman Maj. Rey Balido said the LPA is expected to bring moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms over Visayas and regions of Northern Mindanao that may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

“Residents (there) are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures,” Balido said.

The Department of Health (DOH), for its part, issued an alert for people with leptospirosis.

“Symptoms of leptospirosis are expected to start coming out this weekend so we’re also expecting to see people coming to hospitals. We don’t want them to ignore leptospirosis,” DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said.

Tayag warned leptospirosis could lead to renal failure, which can be reversed if treated immediately and properly. Otherwise, the illness could become fatal.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that can be acquired by getting in contact with water or soil contaminated with the urine of infected animals, particularly rats.

In the early stages, it could be characterized by high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, redness of the eyes, chills, jaundice or yellowish skin, abdominal pain, hemorrhage in the skin and mucous membranes, diarrhea, vomiting and rash. – With Evelyn Macairan, Sheila Crisostomo