World News – CA – Philippines evacuates nearly one million as Typhoon Goni approaches

AFP
Staff

Coastguards evacuate residents of coastal villages in the town of Buhi, Camarines Sur province, south of Manila (AFP)

LEGAZPI, PHILIPPINES –
Nearly one million people in the Philippines were evacuated from their homes on Saturday as the strongest typhoon of the year to date hit the country, authorities warning of « destructive » winds and floods

Typhoon Goni is expected to strike Catanduanes Island on Sunday morning with wind speeds of up to 205 kilometers per hour (127 miles per hour) before passing through the main island of Luzon, the weather forecaster of Luzon said. the state

It comes a week after Typhoon Molave ​​struck the same disaster-prone region of the archipelago, killing 22 people and inundating low-lying villages and farmland, before crossing the South China Sea into In Vietnam

« It looks like we will have very strong winds, increasing the risk of flooding and widespread landslides, » Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, told the channel. local television ABS-CBN

« Storm surges are imminent on our east coast We are monitoring the Mayon and Taal volcanoes for possible volcanic mud flows »

Civil Defense chief Ricardo Jalad said « nearly a million » people had left their homes in the Bicol region, which includes the southern part of Luzon and Catanduanes

Authorities spent Saturday organizing rescue vehicles, emergency response teams and relief efforts before the typhoon

« High winds and heavy rains » are expected to cause flooding and landslides in an area of ​​more than 20 million people, the weather service said.

There was a « high risk » of storm surges over three meters (10 feet) high along parts of the coast, he added.

Schools that have been empty since the start of the coronavirus pandemic are being used as emergency shelters as well as government-run evacuation centers and gymnasiums

« Evacuation of people is more difficult at the moment because of COVID-19, » Bicol regional civil defense spokesperson Alexis Naz told AFP.

Mary Ann Echague, 23, and her family fled their home in the coastal town of Legazpi in Bicol to a primary school in the interior of the country where they were taking refuge in a classroom with several other families

« We fear the wrath of the typhoon, » said Echague, who was with her two children, parents and siblings They had taken with them a portable stove, canned meat, instant noodles, coffee, bread, blankets and pillows

“Every time we get hit by a typhoon, our house is damaged because it is made of wood and galvanized iron roofing,” she said.

Hundreds of people remained stranded after the coast guard ordered ferries and fishing boats in the harbor awaiting rough seas sending 15-meter waves

Goni is expected to « weaken considerably » as it crosses Luzon and enters the South China Sea on Monday morning, state forecaster said

The Philippines is struck by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, which typically destroy crops, homes and infrastructure, keeping millions of people eternally poor

Its deadliest on record was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which triggered giant waves in the central city of Tacloban and left more than 7,300 dead or missing in 2013

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Tropical cyclone, Philippines, typhoon, PAGASA