At least 21 people have been killed and around a million people fled their homes fearing another disaster on the scale of Typhoon Haiyan the year before.
More than 7,000 died in the
biggest typhoon ever recorded on land, but the latest storm weakened as it
closed in on the Philippines.
The driving wind and rain
will cause problems for several days as the slow moving storm makes its way
across the country, now travelling at only 6mph (10kph).
In Batangas City, a
normally busy port south of the capital Manila, hundreds of trucks are parked
up at the side of the road because it is too dangerous for ferries to operate.
The authorities in the city
have opened 14 shelters to look after some of its poorest residents who live in
shanty towns close to the sea.
The chief emergency
coordinator, Superintendent Romel Tradio, told Sky News: "These families
were situated in the so-called high-risk areas - low-lying areas.
"We have to evacuate
them in anticipation of storm surge and flash floods. We are very happy that
these people were very cooperative."
People are used to
emergency evacuations during typhoons but are ever more willing to comply this
year after seeing what happened in last year's catastrophe.
The current forecast path
means Batangas may take the full force of storm, but the estimated wind speeds
have now been scaled down to 105kph (65mph).
Sky news
No comments:
Post a Comment