650,000 flee to safety as typhoon rocks Philippines
Print Edition
TYPHOON Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines’ east coast late yesterday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety, still haunted by the massive death and destruction wrought by a monster storm last year.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gusts of 210kph, Hagupit made landfall in Dolores, a coastal town facing the Pacific in Eastern Samar province, the country’s weather agency said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Although it was unlikely to reach the unprecedented strength of Typhoon Haiyan, Hagupit’s winds and rain were strong enough to cause major damage to an impoverished region still reeling from the devastating November 2013 storm, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing.
“Many trees have toppled, some of them on the highway,” police Senior Inspector Alex Robin said from Dolores, hours before Hagupit made landfall.
“We are totally in the dark here. The only light comes from flashlights.”
Robin said about 600 families had hunkered down in Dolores’ three-story municipal hall, one of many emergency shelters in the town.
Eastern Samar province Representative Ben Evardone said electricity was also knocked out yesterday in Borongan, about 70km south of Dolores, where the government has set up a command center.
“Everybody is in fear because of what happened (during Haiyan),” he said.
Army troops were deployed to supermarkets and major roads in provinces in the typhoon’s path to prevent looting and chaos, and clear debris, said General Gregorio Pio Catapang, head of the Philippines’ military.
“We’re on red alert, so the entire armed forces is being mobilized,” he told a news conference.
Though it’s unlikely to reach Haiyan’s strength, forecasters said Hagupit’s sustained winds and gusts could set off deadly storm surges and landslides.
“I’m scared,” said Haiyan survivor Jojo Moro. “I’m praying to God not to let another disaster strike us again. We haven’t recovered from the first.”
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