Orange replaces green in weather bureau's rainfall warning system

MANILA (Updated) -- The weather bureau on Thursday made a slight change in its three-tiered rainfall warning system, which has been used by local government units in Metro Manila implementing evacuation of flood-prone residents.

Green was replaced by orange, which signifies occasional heavy to intense rains (15-30 millimeters per hour) in the next two hours that can inundate low-lying areas, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

This developed after the agency drew flak for sowing confusion on the use of code green, which is associated with safety.

"Our rainfall warning is on a semi-operational mode; hence we are still open to suggestions to improve it. The color orange is a more appropriate representation of the severity of the situation," Pagasa Administrator Nathaniel Servando said in a text message to Sun.Star.

He said the revised warning system was discussed with the media, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the National Capital Region.

The weather bureau issues a red warning when more than 30 millimeters of rain are experienced in an hour and is expected to continue to rise in the next two hours while the yellow warning means areas under it will experience torrential rainfall of 7.5 to 15 millimeters per hour.

Heavy downpour triggered by the southwest monsoon has so far claimed 19 lives, affected some two million people in several provinces in Luzon and damaged hundreds of millions in property. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)