Slow moving Typhoon Koppu slammed into the northern Philippines Sunday, killing at least one person and causing thousands to evacuate their homes.
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The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has placed the Metro Manila area under storm signal 2, forecasting winds of up to 120 kph in 24 hours.
“We’re seven kilometres away from the river but we were still inundated”, Mr Simulan said, adding the floods swept away farm animals and houses.
The storm is headed to Taiwan when it finally leaves the Philippines on Tuesday, October 20 (PH), but it is expected to linger in the country until the weekend, as per Rappler.
Red Cross Bravo team had rescued 64 people in Barangay Sumakab since 3 a.m. on Monday and volunteers using boats and bangkas continued to rescue residents as many families remained stranded in their homes.
“Rescuers can not penetrate the area”.
Typhoon Koppu, has caused floodwaters to continue rising, and alarmed dozens of villages, with troops being deployed to help residents trapped on rooftops, according to worldwide reports.
The typhoon, known locally as Lando, struck the north-east province of Aurora, pummelling the coastal region that is home to more than 200,000 people with wind gusts of up to 195 km/h.
Authorities said 30 flights and ferry services in the north were cancelled.
Two deaths – from a falling tree and a collapsed concrete wall – were reported in Manila and the northern town of Subic.
The nation of about 101?million people is usually hit by about 20 heavy storms and typhoons a year.
Jun Paddayuman, 27, in shorts and a white singlet caked with mud up to his chest, pointed to his nearby house, where floodwaters had risen to the roof.
Flooding from the storm, named Typhoon Koppu, has displaced more than 65,000 people and knocked out power in at least nine provinces. But Saludes said there was less heavy rain than expected initially in a few areas, including in the capital, Manila, but wind was fierce in many regions.
Local Government Secretary Mel Sarmiento commended the Philippine National Police for its immediate disaster response but said that policemen responding such emergencies should wear protective clothing.
“We have advised them [those staying in low-lying areas prone to floods and landslides] to do their part in ensuring zero casualty so that damage to lives and any other untoward incidents can be lessened”, she said.
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In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most ferocious storms on record to hit land, barreled through the central Philippines, leveling entire towns and leaving more than 7,300 dead or missing.
