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PILANDOK AND THE HABAGAT KEEP FLOOD RISK HIGH
At 5 a.m., PAGASA placed the center of Tropical Depression Pilandok 1,130 kilometers east of Extreme Northern Luzon. It had maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour, gusts of up to 70 kilometers per hour, and was almost stationary.
No Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal is in effect. Pilandok is unlikely to make landfall and is expected to remain far from the Philippine landmass, but it is strengthening the southwest monsoon.
PAGASA said the habagat may bring strong to gale-force gusts over most of the country today. Heavy rain can still trigger flooding and landslides even when the cyclone itself remains far offshore.
The latest NDRRMC update says about 8.4 million people have been affected by the combined effects of the habagat and Tropical Cyclones Luis, Maymay and Neneng. About 122,500 people were in evacuation centers, 32 deaths had been reported, and infrastructure and agricultural damage totaled about ₱8.48 billion.
Those disaster figures cover earlier weather systems and the habagat. They are not a death toll or damage total caused by Pilandok.
WHAT TO WATCH
Watch PAGASA’s 11 a.m. tropical cyclone bulletin, the separate heavy-rainfall advisories and local evacuation orders.
For immediate decisions, rainfall warnings and actual river, road and slope conditions matter more than the cyclone’s distance from land.
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