Super Typhoon Rolly hits Bicol, leaving at least 7 dead

At least seven people were killed when Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) hit the Philippines on Sunday, bringing catastrophic winds and heavy rains that flooded villages and sent thousands fleeing their homes.

Classified as a super typhoon before crashing into the Philippine landmass, Rolly, with winds of up to 225 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 310 kph, made landfall for the first time in the city of Bato, province of Catanduanes, at 4 a.m. 50 am before changing course slightly. and make landfall for the second time in Tiwi, Albay province, at 7:20 am

Rolly was downgraded to a typhoon after it hit the Bicol region, ripping off roofs, knocking down trees and power lines, destroying roads and bridges, causing rivers to overflow their banks and flooding low-lying areas, and causing mud falls on the slopes of Mount Mayon that flooded villages below the volcano.

Four dead

At least four people died in Albay, according to Governor Al Francis Bichara. But according to Agence France-Presse, the Civil Defense Office later issued a statement saying that at least seven people died.

Two of the victims, a 5-year-old boy and his father, drowned in the town of Oas, while a woman was dragged through the volcanic mud in Guinobatan. Another woman died when a tree fell in Daraga.

The flow of volcanic mud damaged bridges in Daraga and Santo Domingo, isolating the cities from the city of Legazpi, the economic center of Albay.

“Albay was mistreated,” Bichara said, pointing to the devastation caused by the storm when it made landfall in various parts of the province, including the cities of Tabaco and Malilipot.

In Sorsogon province, the towns of Donsol, Pilar and Castilla were seriously affected, according to Governor Francis Escudero.

Rolly weakened to a typhoon at 8 a.m. and made landfall for the third time near the town of San Narciso in Quezon province at noon.

Rolly arrived a week after Typhoon “Quinta” (Molave) struck the same region of the Philippines. That storm killed 22 people and flooded low-lying villages and farmland, before crossing the South China Sea into Vietnam.

Cedric Daep, director of the Albay provincial disaster office, said Rolly, who carried the storm signals to No. 5 as it roared toward land on Sunday, was slightly weaker than the strongest typhoons that hit the region: ” Rosing “(Angela, 300 km / h, November 1995),” Yolanda “(Haiyan, 315 km / h, November 2013) and” Reming “(Durian, 320 km / h, November 2006).

Of the three storms, Reming was the most destructive, unleashing tons of volcanic mud that engulfed many villages and killed more than 1,500 people.

Roaring to the west

At 2 p.m. Sunday, the Civil Defense Office in Bicol was still trying to determine the extent of the typhoon’s damage in Catanduanes, Albay, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon. Information was coming in slowly due to damage to power and communication lines.

After lashing out at Bicol, Rolly roared west, bringing destructive winds and heavy rain as it advanced into Marinduque province and southern Quezon in the afternoon and Batangas and Cavite provinces on Sunday evening.

At 4 pm, the storm was located 50 km south-southwest of Tayabas, Quezon, with maximum winds of 165 km / h and gusts of up to 230 km / h and was moving west at 25 km / h.

The state meteorological service Administration of Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services of the Philippines (Pagasa) said Rolly’s eye was expected to be 70 km south of Metro Manila between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Strong winds were reported in the metropolis towards the night.

Rolly’s approach prompted the evacuation of 2,853 people in Pampanga on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, water was released from the overfill of the Ipo dam in Bulacan province.

In Laguna province, two towns in the city of Calamba were left under water and authorities evacuated 2,899 people from lakeside towns on Sunday.

In Quezón, three villages in López and five in San Francisco were flooded as the storm brought heavy rains.

Local authorities ordered the evacuation of people living in flood-prone areas of Manila, Muntinlupa and Taguig as the storm approached on Sunday.

Can weaken

Pagasa said Rolly could weaken when crossing southern Luzon Sunday night, but would emerge as a typhoon in the Western Philippine Sea.

At 5pm Sunday, storm signal No. 3 rose over Metro Manila, southern Zambales, southern Pampanga, southern Bulacan, Rizal, Quezón (including the Polillo islands), Cavite, Laguna, Batangas , Marinduque, northwest of Occidental Mindoro (including Lubang). Island) and northern Eastern Mindoro.

The rest of Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, southern Tarlac, the rest of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, and southern Nueva Ecija were under signal No. 2.

Signal No. 1 was up over mainland Cagayan, Isabela, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Abra, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, the rest of Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Burias Island, Romblon and Calamian Islands.

Pagasa warned of a storm surge of up to 3 meters in the coastal areas of northern Quezon, Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, the southern coastal area of ​​Batangas and most of the southern coastal areas of Quezon.

Residents were also warned of a possible storm surge in the coastal areas surrounding Laguna de Bay and Lake Taal.

As Rolly passed through Luzon, another cyclone, Tropical Storm “Siony” (Atsani), entered Philippine territory.

Pagasa said Siony intensified slightly and is forecast to move west-northwest at 30 kilometers per hour.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, the new storm was 1,140 kilometers east of Central Luzon, with winds of up to 75 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour.

The weather service said Siony was “less likely” to hit any part of the country in the next two to three days.

–Reports from Jhesset O. Enano, Krixia Subingsubing, Mar Arguelles, Rey Anthony Ostria, April Mier-Manjares, Mark Alvic Esplana, Geoerg Gio Brondial, Maricar Cinco, Dexter Cabalza, Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Armand Galang, Joanna Rose Aglibog, Greg Refraccion , Villamor Visaya Jr., Nestor Burgos Jr., Joey Gabieta, Ador Vincent Mayol, Tonette Orejas, AFP, and Reuters

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