Year鈥檚 strongest typhoon kills 4, displaces thousands in Philippines
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One of the strongest storms on record slammed into the central Philippines yesterday, killing at least four people, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes and knocking out power and communications in several provinces. But the nation appeared to avoid a major disaster because the rapidly moving typhoon blew away before wreaking more damage.
Also yesterday, the China National Marine Environmental raised the yellow warning for very high seas and waves generated by Typhoon Haiyan to orange. Orange is the second tier in China’s four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with blue the first and least serious.
Haiyan was influencing the eastern part of the South China Sea late yesterday, with 3-meter waves near Dongsha Island, the center said. With waves expected to reach 9 meters, the marine body asked ships to return to port, and told coastal areas to take precautionary measures in advance.
The Bohai and Yellow seas will also be very rough today with waves of 3 to 4.5 meters, while 2 to 3-meter waves will hit Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin and the Shandong Peninsula.
The typhoon raced across a string of islands in the Philippines from east to west — Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Panay — and lashed beach communities with over 200 kilometer per hour winds.
Nearly 750,000 people were forced to flee their homes.
As communications were cut off, it was impossible to gauge the full extent of casualties and damage. At least two people were electrocuted in storm-related accidents, one person was killed by a falling tree and another was struck by lightning, official reports said.
Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 235 kph with gusts of 275 kph when it made landfall. That makes it the world’s strongest typhoon this year, said Aldczar Aurelio of the Philippines weather bureau.
Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado said the typhoon triggered landslides that blocked roads, uprooted trees and ripped roofs off houses around his residence.
The dense clouds and heavy rains made the day seem almost as dark as night, he said.
“When you’re faced with such a scenario, you can only pray, and pray and pray,” Mercado said, adding that mayors in the province had not called in to report any major damage.
“I hope that means they were spared and not the other way around,” he said. “My worst fear is there will be massive loss of lives and property.”
Eduardo del Rosario, head of the disaster response agency, said a powerful typhoon that also hit the central Philippines in 1990 killed 508 people and left 246 missing, but this time authorities had ordered pre-emptive evacuation and other measures to minimize casualties.
He said the speed at which the typhoon sliced through the central islands — 40 kph — helped prevent its 600-kilometer band of rain clouds from dumping enough of their load to overflow waterways. Flooding from heavy rains is often the main cause of deaths from typhoons.
The Philippines, which is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year, has in recent years become more serious in its efforts to reduce deaths. Public service announcements are frequent, as are warnings that are regularly carried on radio and TV and social networking sites. Provincial governors and mayors have taken a hands-on approach during crises, supervising evacuations, inspecting shelters and efforts to stockpile food and relief supplies.
President Benigno Aquino III assured the public of war-like preparations, with three C-130 air force cargo planes and 32 helicopters and planes on standby, along with 20 navy ships.
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