MANILA, Philippines — As a severe tropical storm moves closer to the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, warned that Signal No. 1 may already be raised over parts of Eastern Visayas as early as Wednesday, December 15.
According to Pagasa senior weather specialist Chris Perez, the severe tropical storm, which international name is Rai, was at 1.000 kilometers (km) east of Mindanao as of 3 p.m. It is anticipated to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning and will then be named Odette.
Based on the latest weather bulletin of Pagasa issued at 5 p.m., Rai has wind speeds of up to 100 km per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 125 kph as it moves west-northwest at 25 kph.
“Dito sa Eastern Visayas inaasahan natin posibleng magkaroon na tayo ng Signal No.1 bukas (here in Eastern Visayas we may possibly have Signal No.1 tomorrow),” Perez cautioned.
“Inaasahan ang pagulan o paminsan-minsang pagbugso ng hangin dahil nga ina-anticipate natin ‘yung patuloy na paglapit ng bagyo na binabantayan natin sa central at southern part ng ating bansa,” he added.
(We expect rain or occasional gusts of wind because we are anticipating the continued approach of the typhoon that we are monitoring in the central and southern part of our country.)
Further, Perez said: “Sa darating na huwebes ay halos nakadikit na ito dito sa may bandang Surigao Del Norte.”
(This coming Thursday, it will be located right next to Surigao Del Norte.)
Odette will be the 15th storm to pass the country this year. It is expected to further intensify into a typhoon before making landfall in Eastern Visayas, according to Perez.
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