THE nation and Taiwan have ordered urgent mass evacuations ahead of possible flooding and landslides as Super Typhoon Ragasa approached, gaining strength on its way to an eventual collision with southern China.
The storm was undergoing “rapid intensification” and expected to make landfall on the sparsely populated Batanes or Babuyan islands tomorrow afternoon, the Philippine weather agency said.
Maximum sustained winds of 185kph were recorded at the storm’s centre as of 11am yesterday, with gusts reaching up to 230kph as it moved westward toward the archipelago nation, the weather service said.
Local officials “must waste no time in moving families out of danger zones”, Interior Department Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in a statement.
In Taiwan, authorities said nearly 300 people will be evacuated from Hualien County in the east, adding that figures could change depending on the typhoon’s movement.
“We estimate that a land typhoon warning will be issued tonight (yesterday)... and tomorrow (today) at 6am as the typhoon is expected to approach Taiwan’s offshore,” the Central Weather Administration said.
Philippine weather specialist John Grender Almario told a press briefing that “severe flooding and landslides” were expected in the northern areas of main island Luzon.
“We expect that the effects of the super typhoon will be felt beginning tonight (yesterday),” he said.
Strong winds and heavy rain are likely in other areas of Luzon, though Manila, where thousands turned out yesterday to protest against fraudulent flood control projects, was expected to be largely spared.
The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt.
The archipelago is hit by an average of at least 20 storms and typhoons each year, putting millions of people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the world warms due, in part, to the effects of human-driven climate change.
Yesterday, the Hong Kong Observatory said weather in the financial hub was expected to “deteriorate gradually” tomorrow and Wednesday, with gale-force winds and storm surge-driven sea levels similar to those seen in 2018’s powerful Typhoon Mangkhut. — AFP
