Typhoon Mawar brings heavy rains to the Philippines

Manila, May 30 (EFE).- Typhoon Mawar brought heavy rains to northern Philippines on Tuesday after slowing down in recent hours and remaining off the northeastern coast of the archipelago with decreasing intensity and speed, official sources reported.

The typhoon, which is accompanied by sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph) and gusts of up to 185 kph, caused heavy rainfall in the Batanes and Cagayan provinces, in the north of the archipelago.

Meanwhile, authorities are bracing themselves for the worst onslaught of the storm late Tuesday.

Over the next few days, Mawar will bring heavy rains to the northernmost regions of Luzon and the western provinces of Palawan and Mindoro, according to the latest report from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

More than 5,400 people have been evacuated as a preventive measure against possible flooding due to the arrival of Mawar, which has not caused victims or significant damage so far, Natural Disaster Reduction Agency said on Tuesday.

Currently, the center of the typhoon, which is moving at less than 10 kilometers per hour, is located about 310 kilometers from the northern island of Batan, between the Philippines and Taiwan.

The storm is expected to gradually move away from the Philippine archipelago in a northwest direction as it continues to lose strength and be classified as a tropical storm.

The PAGASA has issued Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2 (the second lowest level on a five-tier scale) in Batanes and northern Cagayan and Signal No.1 in the rest of Cagayan, the eastern region of Ilocos Norte and some areas of the province of Abra.

Mawar is expected to leave the Philippines monitoring area on Friday. EFE

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