A typhoon with winds of up to 225km per hour and gusts of 260kph has struck the northern Philippines causing widespread destruction. One man died when he fell into a river. Megi hit the northern Luzon provinces of Cagayan and Isabela Monday morning, 18 October, and residents braced for the impact. The typhoon is moving southwest at 19kph, according to the Philippine weather service, Pagasa.
News services reported very high waves along the coast, and strong winds that were downing power lines and ripping roofs off buildings. The agriculture ministry warns that up to 600,000 tons of rice could be lost to flooding.
The army and emergency services have prepositioned emergency aid, and residents in Manila, 300 kms to the south, have been warned to stockpile food and water.
Links to other sites: BBC, Business Week,Philippine Inquirer, Pagasa site
Path of Megi, known locally as Juan
The typhoon called Ramil locally, and Lupit internationally, is gathering strength as it steadily makes its way westward across the Pacific Ocean with winds of 175km and gusts up to 210km. It is expected to make landfall on Wednesday 21 or early Thursday 22 October on the northern tip of the Philippines’ main island, Luzon, mostly sparing the capital Manila. The military is moving relief goods and trucks, speedboats and soldiers north in anticipation of rescue missions.
The Philippines is still recovering from the last two typhoons with survivors in the north still living in tents being urged not to return to their homes. Philippine weather service chief, Prisco Nilo, told a press conference in Manila 18 October that people should be evacuated “now that there is still time” [and not] “in the middle of a typhoon”. AP, Philippine Inquirer
After typhoon Ketsana came typhoon Parma. The rains it has brought with it have caused widespread flooding in coastal areas and landslides in the mountainous north of the country. The governor of Benguet province says over 100 people have been reported dead. Almost 90 percent of Pangasinan province is under water. People are stranded on rooftops and using cell phones to call for help. In Metro Manila, flooding has caused a substation of the national power grid to fail, with subsequent power outages in eastern Manila and adjacent provinces.
Typhoon Parma made landfall last Saturday 2 October and has hovered over the northerm Philippines since then, though it has weakened to a tropical storm, bringing up to 91.4 cm of rain in some parts. Typhoon Ketsana already caused more than 340 deaths, before moving across the South China Sea to Vietnam and Cambodia. BBC, CNN, Manila Times, Reuters
Just a week after Typhoon Ketsana caused massive flooding in the Philippines, including major flooding in the capital, Manila, Typhoon Parma hit land in Luzon late Saturday 3 October, promising to dump 20-50 cm new rain on the area. Winds of 145 kph, gusting up to 185, wreaked havoc, but the larger concern was more flooding and mudslides. Manila avoided a direct hit as the storm changed course, but northern regions are reporting heavy damage and four deaths. Al Jazeera, CNN
Rescue workers have stopped trying to dig out the village of Shiao Lin in Taiwan, with nearly 400 people feared buried by a mudslide caused by Typhoon Morakot, which dumped two metres of rain on the island in a short time. The government says a memorial service will be held on the spot where 170 homes were buried. More than 15,000 people have been rescued after being hit by the storm which provoked Taiwan’s worst floods in 50 years, but rescuers are still trying to reach another 1,900 people. The government has to date confirmed 116 people dead from the storm, not including Shiao Lin. In a strange twist, Taiwan’s media carry the story of what is alternately described as the about-face in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on foreign disaster aid or an administrative mistake that led to a government office initially telling other offices not to accept rescue assistance from abroad. BBC, China Post, Taipei Times
Storms in Asia are causing deaths and massive damage, with nine people dying in a storm-provoked mudslide in Japan and three dead in China in the wake of typhoon Morakot. The BBC carries startling footage of a several-stories beachfront hotel tumbling into the sea at the hot springs resort of Chihpen after its foundations were pulled away by the typhoon. The hotel was reportedly evacuated before it collapsed. ABC news Australia, Xinhua
Chinese authorities evacuated almost one million people from coastal areas in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces ahead of typhoon Morakot, which made landfall early morning 9 August in China. Sustained winds of over 110 km per hour, and reports of 9-metre waves caused floods and destroyed buildings. Thousands of fishing boats were warned to return to harbour. The typhoon had already wreaked havoc in Taiwan: the BBC shows dramatic footage of an empty hotel being undermined by up to 200 cm of rain in 24 hours as the storm passed over the island. In the Philippines, the storm caused widespread damage, flooding and mudslides.BBC, CNN, Reuters, Xinhua
Typhoon Sinlaku slammed into Taiwan and is now headed for Japan after killing five people, with seven missing and rescue work underway in some areas, with at least one bridge that has collapsed and a hotel in a resort buried by a mudslide. CNN
