The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that at 11:00 a.m. on December 5, the center of tropical depression Wilma was at 11.7 degrees north latitude, 127.6 degrees east longitude, about 235km east of Borongan, Eastern Samar.
Wilma has maximum sustained winds of 45 km/h, gusts of 55 km/h, moving west-southwest at 15 km/h and maintaining a stable intensity.
Wilma may move westward from December 6, approaching or making landfall in Eastern Visayas or Dinagat Islands overnight on December 5 or early morning of December 6 before continuing to sweep through the Visayas region until December 7.
Although it has not yet strengthened into a storm while still off the coast of the Philippines, Wilma still creates a wind field of up to 220km wide, enough to bring continuous heavy rains to Visayas, Caraga and Northern Mindanao.
On December 5, heavy to very heavy rains (100-200mm) were concentrated in Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar, Biliran, Leyte and Southern Leyte.
Provinces such as concubino, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Siquijor, Guimaras, Iloilo, Capiz or Surigao del Norte will experience moderate to heavy rain (50-100mm).
Heavy rain is forecast to expand to Cebu, Negros Occidental, Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo on December 6, while Eastern Samar and Southern Leyte will continue to experience heavy rain.
By December 7, the focus of rain will shift to Aklan, Capiz and Antique with rainfall likely continuing to reach 100-200mm, while spreading to Palawan, Iloilo, Guimaras and many provinces of Negros and Cebu.
Given Wilma's complicated developments, many emergency measures have been taken. The Caraga and Northern Mindanao authorities temporarily suspended all sea operations from the morning of December 5.
The Philippine Coast Guard has asked ships to anchor permanently at Camiguin, Dinagat, Bucas Grande and Siargao ports after the area was placed under a Category 1 storm warning.
Many localities have also allowed students to stay home from school to ensure safety. In Cagayan de Oro, Mayor rolando Uy suspended all in-person classes and ordered rescue and disaster response teams to fight on duty 24/7.
In Caraga, Surigao del Norte authorities have advised towns to activate response plans depending on the risk level of each area.
In the Dinagat Islands, Governor Nilo Demerey Jr. raise the warning level to green level and mobilize all natural disaster prevention forces.
PAGASA said Wilma is likely to remain a tropical depression as it sweeps across the Philippines. However, when entering the warm western sea area - the East Sea area, towards the South Central Coast of Vietnam, this system has the conditions to strengthen and could become the 16th storm in the East Sea in the coming days.
In the context of many areas having saturated water after long rains, the risk of flash floods and landslides is warned at a high level. Local authorities are being urged to closely monitor the weather, while people in low-lying areas, riverside and mountainous areas are being urged to be ready to evacuate when there are warning signals.
