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LEGAZPI, Philippines: Super Typhoon Goni hit the Philippines on Sunday (November 1) and authorities warned of “catastrophic” conditions in the region that are expected to be hit hardest, where nearly a million people have been evacuated.
The strongest typhoon of the year so far made landfall on Catanduanes Island at 4.50 am with maximum sustained wind speeds of 225 km / h, the state meteorologist said.
Over the next 12 hours, “catastrophic violent winds and heavy to torrential rains” will be experienced in the Bicol region, which covers the southern tip of the main island of Luzon and Catanduanes, it said.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation for these areas.”
READ: Philippines evacuate nearly 1 million as world’s strongest typhoon approaches this year
READ: Typhoon Molave displaces thousands and floods villages in the Philippines
Goni, which escalated into a “super” typhoon as it approached the Philippines, comes a week after Typhoon Molave struck the same region of the archipelago prone to natural disasters.
That storm killed 22 people and flooded low-lying villages and farmland, before crossing the South China Sea into Vietnam.
“It looks like we’re going to have really strong winds, which will increase the chances of widespread flooding and landslides,” Mark Timbal, spokesman for the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, told local broadcaster ABS-CBN on Saturday. .
“Storm surge is imminent on our east coast. We are monitoring the Mayon and Taal volcanoes for possible volcanic mudflows.”
A man fishes in a swollen river caused by heavy rains north of Manila, before Typhoon Goni makes landfall in the Philippines AFP / Villamor Visaya
The head of Civil Defense, Ricardo Jalad, said that “almost a million” people left their homes in the Bicol region.
Authorities spent Saturday gathering rescue vehicles, emergency response teams and relief items before the storm hit.
There is a “high risk” of life-threatening storm surges of more than 3 meters high along parts of the coastline, which could flood low-lying areas, it warned.
A storm surge of up to three meters is also forecast for the coastal areas of the capital Manila.
READ: Vietnam addresses the deadly aftermath of the typhoon as a new storm threatens the region
COVID-19 COMPLICATES EVACUATIONS
Schools that have been empty since the start of the coronavirus pandemic are being used as emergency shelters, as are evacuation centers and government-run gymnasiums.
“Evacuating people is more difficult at the moment due to COVID-19,” Bicol regional civil defense spokesman Alexis Naz told AFP.
23-year-old Mary Ann Echague and her family fled their home in the coastal town of Legazpi to an inland primary school where they took refuge in a classroom with several other families.
“We fear the wrath of the typhoon,” said Echague, who was with her two children, parents and siblings. They had brought a portable stove, canned meat, instant noodles, coffee, bread, blankets, and pillows with them.
“Every time a typhoon hits us, our house is damaged as it is made of wood and a galvanized iron roof,” he said.
“We have always managed. We find a way to get ahead.”
Hundreds of people were stranded after the coast guard ordered ferries and fishing boats to arrive at the port waiting for the rough sea to throw up 16-meter waves.
Goni is expected to weaken as it crosses southern Luzon and enters the South China Sea early Monday, the state-run forecaster said.
The Philippines is affected by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, which often wipe out crops, homes and infrastructure, and keep millions of people in perennial poverty.
The deadliest on record was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which unleashed tidal waves in the central city of Tacloban and left more than 7,300 dead or missing in 2013.
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