MANILA: Hundreds of families sought refuge in schools and evacuation centres as Super Typhoon Ragasa brought heavy rains and gale-force winds to the northern Philippines and southern Taiwan.
The typhoon continues to gain strength while heading toward southern China and was expected to hit the Philippines’ Babuyan Islands around midday.
These sparsely populated islands are located approximately 740 kilometres south of Taiwan in the Luzon Strait.
Maximum sustained winds reached 215 kilometres per hour at the storm’s centre with gusts up to 265 kph as it moved toward the archipelago nation according to the national weather service.
“We are now experiencing strong winds here in northern Cagayan,“ provincial disaster chief Rueli Rapsing said, adding they were prepared for “the worst”.
He stated they were particularly focused on the town of Calayan in the far north province where the super typhoon would traverse.
Small-scale evacuations were ongoing in mountainous areas near Pingtung in Taiwan according to local fire department officer James Wu.
“What worries us more is that the damage could be similar to what happened during Typhoon Koinu two years ago,“ he added, referencing a storm that caused collapsed utility poles and flying sheet-metal roofs.
Schools and government offices closed across the Manila region and 29 Philippine provinces in anticipation of heavy rainfall.
Government weather specialist John Grender Almario warned Sunday that “severe flooding and landslides” could be expected in northern areas of the main island Luzon.
The flooding threat comes just one day after thousands of Filipinos protested a growing corruption scandal involving poorly constructed or incomplete flood control projects.
Peaceful demonstrations turned violent with rock-throwing protesters clashing with police and resulting in more than 70 arrests.
The Philippines faces the Pacific cyclone belt first and experiences an average of 20 storms and typhoons annually, keeping millions in disaster-prone areas in constant poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are growing more powerful due to human-driven climate change warming the world. – AFP
