Agencies/Manila
Nearly 150 army trucks loaded with food, water and relief goods rolled out to areas in the northern Philippines already devastated by floods and landslides as another typhoon bore down on the country.
Emergency and rescue teams were also sent to areas directly in the path of Typhoon Mirinae, including major rice-producing provinces north of Manila, said Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Torres, spokesman for the national disaster agency.
Mirinae, a category 2 typhoon with maximum centre winds of 150kph and gusts of up to 185kph, was expected to make landfall late today.
Landslides are expected in the northern mountain regions, where several villages were buried by mud early this month during Typhoon Parma.
“Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures against flashfloods and landslides,” the weather bureau said its bulletin.
“Those living along the coast are advised to be on alert against storm surges and big waves generated by the typhoon,” it added.
Torres said the authorities were identifying hazard areas where residents needed to be moved out.
“The focus of the preparation is to review the hazard areas, identify evacuation centres because it’s easier to evacuate people than rescue them when the typhoon comes,” he said.
Mirinae would strike as millions of Filipinos prepared to visit cemeteries on All Saint’s Day on November 1, the traditional day for honouring the dead.
Defence Secretary Eduardo Ermita on Wednesday urged Filipinos to skip the annual trip to the cemeteries amid Mirinae’s threat.
“Let us avoid visiting our relatives at the cemeteries,” he said.
Two powerful typhoons, Ketsana and Parma, dumped record-high rain that submerged 80% of the capital and wide stretches of farmland in the northern provinces, killing more than 900 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.
The typhoons damaged or destroyed nearly 38bn pesos ($796mn) of crops and infrastructure. |
