50,000 Flee, Floodwaters Rise as Auring Nears Southern Philippines

Some 50,000 people on the path of Tropical Storm Auring (Dujuan) fled to higher ground as the slow-moving first cyclone of 2021 neared the southeastern Philippines, submerging a coastal city even before it makes landfall, authorities said Sunday.

Tandag City was hit with "massive" flooding and aerial photos showed that a river has spilled over to residential communities, Surigao del Sur Gov. Ayec Pimentel said. The province accounted for nearly 30,000 of the total evacuees, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Auring was nearly stationary for most of the weekend and is expected to weaken due to cold air blowing from the northeast. However, it has stirred rains over parts of Mindanao and the Visayas, triggering floods in Tandag.

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At 4 p.m. Sunday, it was spotted 355 kilometers east of Surigao City, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kph with 80 kph gusts. It could make landfall in the Dinagat Islands-Eastern Samar area on Monday morning, PAGASA said.

The threat of floods and landslides remain, PAGASA said. Typhoon signals listed below are as of 5 p.m. Sunday.

Overnight on Sunday until early Monday, PAGASA forecasted moderate to heavy rains over Caraga, Eastern Visayas, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Catanduanes, Albay, and Sorsogon. Light to moderate with at times heavy rains are expected over Zamboanga Peninsula, MIMAROPA, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, Quezon, and the rest of Bicol Region, Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.

From Monday through Tuesday, the weather bureau forecasted moderate to heavy rains over the Bicol Region, Marinduque, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and Samar. Light to moderate with at times heavy rains over the rest of Visayas, MIMAROPA, Quezon, Aurora, Isabela, and Cagayan.