[ad_1]
More than 300,000 people were forced from their homes and headed for more than 13,000 evacuation centers, according to the state-run Philippine News Agency (ANP), as heavy rains and sustained winds hit the country.
Typhoon Vamco, dubbed Ulysses in the Philippines, has a strength equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane, according to the Philippines Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). It made its first landing at 11 p.m. local time near Patnanungan, Quezon, then continued moving west, making a second landing in Luzon. According to PAGASA, the storm has caused flooding and two to three meters of storm surge. The agency warned that the rains could lead to landslides.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the impact of the storm in central Luzon is particularly damaging because it is affecting the same 1.6 million people affected by super typhoon Goni.
“The Red Cross is particularly concerned about the more than 240,000 people who lost their homes to Typhoon Goni, especially those living in makeshift shelters along the coast when this latest storm hits,” the organization said in a statement, adding that the situation is particularly dire because local government emergency response funds have been depleted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“These ongoing storms batter our communities during a deadly pandemic, making this one of the most challenging disaster responses in history,” Richard Gordon, president of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a statement.
Philippine Interior Secretary Eduardo Año was quoted by the ANP as saying that search and rescue operations were ongoing throughout Luzon, especially in the affected areas in Cainta, Montalbán and San Mateo in Rizal and Metro Manila, particularly in the city of Marikina, which has suffered floods. .
Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro told reporters Thursday that air rescue efforts were hampered by the weather and called for more rescue resources to be made available as the city was overwhelmed by the number of residents trapped in the roofs of their flooded houses.
More than 25,000 police officers have been deployed to assist in the disaster response, according to the ANP.
Situation reports from the command center indicated 411 areas flooded, 519 areas without electricity and 104 areas without telecommunications service, Philippine National Police Chief General Debold Sinas told PNA.
According to PAGASA, the center of the storm is moving away from the Philippines and heading towards Vietnam. The long-term forecast from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center shows that a weaker Vamco is likely to hit Vietnam this weekend, with more flooding possible.
