A new typhoon hit a farming region in the northeastern Philippines on Monday after thousands of people were evacuated to safety as they still struggled to recover from the devastation caused by three successive storms in the past three weeks .
Typhoon Toraji struck the northeastern province of Aurora and was expected to blow through the mountainous region of Luzon, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – just the day before – inspected the damage caused by the latest storm and directed the distribution of food packages to residents of Cagayan and Ilocos. provinces. Marcos did not participate in the Asia-Pacific cooperation forum held this week in Peru to oversee recovery efforts after the back-to-back storms.
After making landfall in Aurora Monday morning with sustained winds of up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 180 km/h (112 mph), the typhoon was expected to track northwest through Luzon, weakening while crossing a mountain. then blow into the South China Sea.
Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla on Sunday ordered the forced evacuation of residents of 2,500 villages expected to be hit by Toraji, locally known as Nika, warning that Luzon’s rain-soaked mountains, valleys and plains were more susceptible to flash floods and landslides. With the typhoon quickly approaching, there was little time to bring large numbers of people to safety, he said.
“We understand that some want to stay, but we have to make them leave,” Remulla told reporters.
The army said its disaster response forces had been deployed near high-risk areas and were ready to face new eventualities. He added that he had suspended combat exercises in the north due to weather conditions.
“Our commitment remains firm to protect and assist our countrymen, especially in times of disaster,” Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said.
Schools were closed, inter-island ferry services and domestic flights were suspended in provinces in or near the path of the typhoon, the 14th weather disturbance to hit the Philippine archipelago this year. Forecasters said they were watching another storm in the Pacific that could affect the country if it strengthens.
The last two typhoons and a tropical storm have caused more than 160 deaths, damaged thousands of homes and farmland, and affected more than 9 million people, including hundreds of thousands who fled to emergency shelters after dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some towns and villages.
Overwhelmed, the Philippines received help from Southeast Asian countries led by Singapore, as well as longtime allies the United States, to transport food, water and other aid to the northern provinces hard hit.
The Philippine archipelago is often hit by typhoons and earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, razing entire villages, and causing ships to run aground and homes to crush in the central Philippines.
