Fourth typhoon in a month hits the Philippines

MANILA - Thousands of villages were ordered to evacuate and ports were shut down, officials said on Nov 11, as the disaster-weary Philippines was struck by another typhoon – the fourth in less than a month.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as Typhoon Toraji hit the nation’s north-east coast near Dilasag town, about 220km north-east of the capital, Manila, the national weather agency said.

“We’re getting hit with strong winds and heavy rain. Some trees are being toppled and power has been cut since yesterday,” Ms Merwina Pableo, civil defence chief of Dinalungan town near Dilasag, told AFP.

“We cannot go out yet to make a damage assessment.”

At least 1,400 people were moved from coastal areas as well as flood-prone and landslide-prone areas of Dinalungan and nearby Baler municipality, said disaster operations official Donald Allan Ty.

In all, the government ordered 2,500 villages to be evacuated on Nov 10, but the national disaster office could not say how many people have taken shelter so far.

Toraji, packing maximum winds of 130kmh, was moving northwest rapidly and is forecast to blow out to the South China Sea late on Nov 11 after slicing through the mountainous interior of the main island of Luzon, the weather service said.

Schools and government offices were shut in areas expected to be hit hardest by the latest typhoon.

The national weather agency warned of severe winds and heavy rainfall across the north of the country, along with a “moderate to high risk of a storm surge” – giant waves threatening the coasts of the main island of Luzon.

Nearly 700 passengers were stranded at ports, according to a coast guard tally on Nov 11, with the weather service warning that “sea travel is risky for all types or tonnage of vessels”.

“All mariners must remain in port or, if under way, seek shelter or safe harbour as soon as possible until winds and waves subside,” it added.

After Toraji, a tropical depression could also potentially strike the region as early as the night of Nov 14, weather forecaster Veronica Torres told AFP.

Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, may also threaten the Philippines next week, she added.

On Nov 7, Typhoon Yinxing slammed into the country’s north coast, damaging houses and buildings.

A 12-year-old girl was crushed to death in one incident.

Before that, Severe Tropical Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong-rey together left 158 people dead, the national disaster agency said, with most of that tally attributed to Trami.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the archipelago nation or its surrounding waters each year.

A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change. AFP