A farmer takes his buffalo to a safer place in Isabela province, north of Manila on July 25, 2023, as Super Typhoon Doksuri heads towards the northern Philippines.
A super typhoon barreled toward the northern Philippines on Tuesday, the country’s weather agency said, prompting evacuation orders for coastal communities expected to bear the brunt of the storm.
Super Typhoon Doksuri brought maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour) as it moved towards the northern end of the main island of Luzon.
The typhoon, dubbed “Egay” in the Philippines, is expected to make landfall or pass very close to the Babuyan islands or northeast of Cagayan province on Wednesday, the agency said in its latest bulletin at 0300 GMT.
Then it moves towards Taiwan and southeast China.
Coastal communities in the northwestern and northeastern provinces of Cagayan were ordered to evacuate their homes in anticipation of storm surges reaching, or even exceeding, three meters (10 feet).
Three of the five Babuyan islands are inhabited, with a population of about 20,000 people.
Local disaster official Charles Castillejos said people living near the coast of the islands were ordered to go ashore, while fishermen were told to take their boats out of the water.
“We sent the police to convince the stubborn people who refused to evacuate,” Castillejos told AFP.
Science and technology secretary Renato Solidum said people should be prepared for the storm because “things happen fast”.
“We must remind our people of the importance of being prepared against storm surge, strong winds and possible flooding,” Solidum told reporters.
Some farmers in the northern province of Isabela, bordering Cagayan, were seen taking their livestock to a safe place before the typhoon.
Farmers take their cattle to a safer place in Isabela province, north of Manila on July 25, 2023, as Super Typhoon Doksuri heads towards the northern Philippines.
“Those living in coastal areas have been moved to higher ground,” Isabela provincial disaster official Constante Foronda told local radio station DZBB.
“Our water search and rescue teams have already been deployed in areas that are likely to be affected,” Foronda said.
Flooding, landslides ‘highly possible’
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 major typhoons every year that kill hundreds of people and keep vast regions in perpetual poverty.
Scientists warn that such storms, which also kill livestock and destroy key infrastructure, are becoming more powerful as the world warms due to climate change.
Boats, including wooden outriggers and passenger ferries that provide transportation between islands, were ordered to dock in Luzon and the central islands due to gale warnings, stranding more than 11,000 people, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
By midday Wednesday, the storm was expected to drop more than 200 millimeters (7.9 inches) of rain.
Heavy rain is also expected in the mountainous northern provinces in the coming days, with flooding and landslides “highly possible”, the weather agency said.
Cagayan provincial disaster officer Ruelie Rapsing told DZBB that there are emergency food packs stored in warehouses.
“The province has been on red alert status since Saturday and all evacuation centers, emergency operation centers in every town, and incident management teams have been activated,” he said.
“The people of Cagayan are used to it.”
© 2023 AFP
Citation: Philippines orders evacuations ahead of Super Typhoon Doksuri (2023, July 25) retrieved on July 25, 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-07-philippines-evacuations-super-typhoon-doksuri.html
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