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MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned of another potentially damaging cyclone approaching the country on Monday (Nov. 2) as the death toll from the world’s strongest typhoon of the year rose to 20.
Typhoon Goni, which hit the provinces south of the capital Manila on Sunday with gusts of up to 310 km / h, is the 18th to hit the Philippines this year and one of the strongest typhoons since Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people in 2013.
The country’s disaster agency said on Monday that 20 people had died in Albay and Catanduane provinces, up from 16 it had previously reported. Authorities said a forced evacuation of more than 345,000 people had prevented more deaths.
The remains of a truck submerged in the mudflow of the Mayon volcano caused by heavy rains from Typhoon Goni in Guinobatan City, Albay province, in the central Philippines, on November 2, 2020 (Photo: AP).
Now another storm, Atsani, with gusts of up to 80km / h, is gaining strength over the Pacific Ocean and is expected to make landfall later this week.
“It is not as powerful as (Goni) but it would cause damage on its way, on roads and bridges,” Duterte said at a televised Cabinet meeting.
The state weather agency predicts that two to three more typhoons will enter the Philippines in November and one to two in December. The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, experiences around 20 tropical storms a year.
Residents in the provinces south of Manila began cleaning houses of mud and debris, while people from still-flooded communities were separated into tents inside evacuation centers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Residents try to save their belongings after flooding caused by Typhoon Goni rose inside their village in Batangas City, Batangas Province, south of Manila, the Philippines, on November 2, 2020 (Photo: AP / Aaron Favila).
Goni partially damaged more than 55,000 homes and razed 20,000 more, disaster management chief Ricardo Jalad told the meeting.
More than 13,000 homes, some engulfed by a storm surge of up to 5 meters, were damaged in the island province of Catanduanes when Goni made landfall on Sunday, provincial governor Joseph Cua told a news conference.
“Although there are no more typhoons, we do not have air or sea transport,” Cua said.
A woman walks past a car that was washed away by flooding caused by Typhoon Goni in Batangas City, Batangas Province, south of Manila, Philippines, on November 2, 2020 (Photo: AP / Aaron Favila).
COUNTING THE COST
Philippine Red Cross President and Senator Richard Gordon said in a statement that “this typhoon has slammed into people’s lives and livelihoods in addition to the relentless physical, emotional and economic toll of COVID-19.”
Duterte conducted an aerial inspection of the damage on Monday. Flying from his hometown Davao, he landed in Guinobatan City near Mayon volcano, the most active volcano in the Philippines.
Duterte ordered an investigation into quarrying operations that residents said had led to the burial of hundreds of houses in volcanic rocks and mud streams, Presidential Aide and Senator Christopher Go told reporters.
Rescuers carry the body of a man who drowned during floods caused by Typhoon Goni in the eastern Philippines’ Camarines Sur province on November 1, 2020 (Photo: Philippine Coast Guard via AP) .
The Minister of the Environment, Roy Cimatu, ordered the suspension of the quarries around the Mayon volcano, famous for its almost perfect cone.
After Typhoon Goni, more than 50,000 homes were without power on the main island of Luzon, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the Philippine economy.
Strong winds and torrential rains have damaged crops worth 1.7 billion pesos ($ 35 million), mainly rice and corn, said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
Around 5.6 billion pesos in bridges, roads and public buildings were damaged, according to data from the Ministry of Public Works.
A resident walks along a muddy road after flooding caused by Typhoon Goni rose inside their village in Batangas City, Batangas Province, south of Manila, Philippines, on November 2, 2020 (Photo : AP / Aaron Favila).
Before Goni’s attack, the Philippines had been dealing with the impact of Typhoon Molave, which killed 22 people, most of whom drowned, in the provinces south of Manila.
Vietnam said Goni is forecast to hit its central coast Wednesday night, dumping more heavy rains in an area where floods and landslides in the past month have already killed about 160 people, with dozens missing.
