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In terms of strength, it is the equivalent of a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane. After making landfall, Goni was downgraded to a typhoon, with sustained winds slowing slightly to 215 kph (140 miles per hour).
Provincial Governor Al Francis Bichara said four deaths have been reported so far, including one struck by a tree and a five-year-old girl washed away by a river overflow. The disaster management agency could not confirm the report.
Video images from news channels and social media showed overflowing rivers and some levees destroyed, submerging villages in Bicol.
Philippine authorities evacuated nearly a million people to safer terrain as Goni, known locally as Rolly, approached the eastern provinces. On Sunday morning it made landfall in Catanduanes and Albay in the Bicol region.
The Philippines meteorological office said “catastrophic violent winds and heavy to torrential rains” were expected to prevail over Bicol provinces, as well as parts of Quezon, Laguna and Batangas, south of the capital Manila.
The capital, Manila, is currently on the projected track of Goni, the country’s 18th tropical storm so far this year, and the meteorological office is forecasting “heavy” rains and storm surges for the city.
A third landing is expected to hit Quezon province later in the day, meteorologist Lorie dela Cruz told a radio station.
Storm surge alerts have been issued, while officials have also reminded those at evacuation centers to observe social distancing as the spread of the coronavirus is also a concern.
Dozens of domestic and international flights were canceled because the civil aviation authority ordered the one-day closure of Manila’s main entrance, Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Goni is one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines since Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013.
Tropical Storm Atsani was still more than 1,200 km (745.6 miles) east of the Philippines at 7 p.m. ET Saturday and substantially weaker than Goni, but PAGASA said it was likely to strengthen through Sunday and Monday. .
