The Philippines evacuated nearly 1,800 people and suspended sea travel as tropical storm Molave was expected to bring widespread rains over two regions on the southern part of the main island of Luzon on Sunday, Reuters reported. Tropical cyclone wind alerts were issued for several provinces in the Bicol and Calabarzon regions with storm Molave expected to make landfall later in the day while traversing the southern Luzon area, the national weather bureau said. "Further intensification prior to landfall over Bicol region remains likely," it warned in a bulletin. Molave follows tropical storm Saudel, which last week caused widespread flooding in Quezon province in the Calabarzon region, southeast of the capital Manila. After crossing the Philippine archipelago, Molave was expected to continue intensifying over the South China Sea, possibly reaching typhoon category by Tuesday evening, it said. Molave is most likely to begin impacting the central and northern Philippines beginning on Sunday morning, but the worst impacts will not arrive until Sunday evening. Northern Samar, southeastern Luzon and Catanduanes are the most likely areas to experience Molave's strongest wind and heaviest rain. By Monday, the worst impacts from Molave are expected to shift to Mindoro, but by this point, Molave is expected to lose some wind intensity. In addition to the impacts brought from Tropical Storm Saudel less than a week ago, Molave can lead to another round of power outages, down tree branches and cause minor structural damage. Heavy rain can also renew the threat of flooding and mudslides across the region. Sea travel operations were canceled in the Calabarzon region, with 662 people reportedly stranded at ports due to strong winds, according to the disaster monitoring agency. In the Bicol provinces, a total of 532 families, or 1,789 people, were preemptively evacuated to temporary shelters, it said. — SPA
