Typhoon-Weary Philippines Struck by Fourth Storm in Less Than a Month

Thousands of villages were ordered to evacuate, and ports were closed as the Philippines, already strained by recent disasters, faced its fourth typhoon in under a month.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as Typhoon Toraji made landfall near Dilasag town, about 220 kilometres (140 miles) northeast of Manila, the national weather agency said. 

“We’re getting hit with strong winds and heavy rain. Some trees are being toppled and power has been cut since yesterday,” Merwina Pableo, civil defence chief of Dinalungan town near Dilasag, told reporters. 

“We cannot go out yet to make a damage assessment.”

At least 1,400 people were evacuated from coastal, flood-prone, and landslide-prone areas in Dinalungan and nearby Baler municipality, according to disaster operations official Donald Allan Ty. 

In total, 2,500 villages were instructed to evacuate on Sunday, though the national disaster office had not yet reported a total number of evacuees as of Monday.

Typhoon Toraji, with maximum winds of 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour, was moving quickly northwest and is expected to enter the South China Sea later on Monday after crossing Luzon’s mountainous interior, according to the weather service.

Schools and government offices were closed in areas expected to be hardest hit, while the national weather agency warned of severe winds, heavy rainfall, and a “moderate to high risk of a storm surge” along Luzon’s northern coast. 

Nearly 700 passengers were stranded at ports as sea travel was deemed 

“risky for all types or tonnage of vessels,” according to the coast guard. “All mariners must remain in port or, if underway, seek shelter or safe harbour as soon as possible until winds and waves subside,” it added.

Following Toraji, a tropical depression may impact the region as early as Thursday night, weather forecaster Veronica Torres told reporters. 

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, could also threaten the Philippines next week.

The typhoon arrives just days after Typhoon Yinxing hit the country’s north coast, causing structural damage, and resulting in the death of a 12-year-old girl. 

Before Yinxing, Severe Tropical Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong-rey together left 158 fatalities, with most attributed to Trami, the national disaster agency reported.

Approximately 20 major storms and typhoons hit the Philippines annually. 

A recent study indicates that storms in the Asia-Pacific are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more quickly, and lasting longer over land due to climate change.

Faridah Abdulkadiri

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