(Eagle News) — The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration denied geologist Mahar Lagmay’s claims it gave inaccurate rainfall forecasts and late warnings on Tropical Depression “Usman,” which killed several people in December especially in the Bicol area.
In a statement, PAGASA administrator Vicente Malano said the agency defines “moderate to heavy rainfall in its Severe Weather Bulletins as 24-hour daily accumulated rainfall of 60 to 180 millimeters and more than 180, respectively.”
“In this premise, the December 28 to 29 PAGASA forecasters had sufficiently warned that the 24-hour accumulated rainfall of moderate to heavy would trigger massive flooding and landslides,” he said.
According to Malano, aside from this, PAGASA “provides localized rainfall and thunderstorm warnings through its PAGASA Regional Services Division.”
In the case at hand, Malano said the Southern Luzon PRSD based in Legazpi City issued “separate color-coded heavy rainfall warnings” and stressed that “there was an immediate threat of floods and landslides indicative of emergency actions.”
Malano said that although PAGASA downgraded TD “Usman” into a low pressure area upon landfall, the agency emphasized the “warnings of flooding and landslides as moderate to heavy persist.”
“The men and women of PAGASA remain fully committed to their mission of providing reliable and accurate weather-related information,” Malano said, as he warned the public against making “sweeping statements that may damage” PAGASA’s credibility as a warning agency.
In a Facebook post, Lagmay, the University of the Philippines’ NOAH executive director, said PAGASA should have issued an intense and torrential rainfall forecast instead of a moderate to heavy rainfall forecast on Dec. 28 and 29.
