Typhoon Fung-wong was upgraded today to a Super Typhoon as it menacingly approaches the Philippines, which is already counting dozens of dead from the devastating passage of Typhoon Kalmagi earlier this week, the Manila meteorological service announced.
Typhoon Fung-wong, whose diameter covers almost the entire territory of the country, is moving west with sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts reaching up to 230 kph. It was expected to make landfall during the night.
More than 100,000 residents evacuated the eastern and northern regions of the country, where torrential rains and fierce winds are already occurring.
The waves started swelling “around 07:00” (local time; 01:00 Cyprus time) and “when they hit the breakwater you would say the earth was trembling,” Edson Casarino, a 33-year-old resident of Catanduanes island (northeast), told Agence France-Presse. “Heavy rain is falling and I can hear the wind blowing,” he added.
The small island is at risk of being “directly hit” by Fung-wong, the meteorological service warned.
Yesterday, some residents were tying houses to the ground with ropes, hoping that this would prevent them from being swept away by the winds.
Fung-wong was expected to cause “rainfall of 200 millimetres or more” and trigger “extensive flooding, not only in low-lying areas,” summarised Benison Estareja, a government meteorologist, during a press conference.
He also estimated that it is “likely” that the “largest basins” of the areas the phenomenon passes through will be flooded.
The Super Typhoon arrives in the Southeast Asian archipelago just days after Kalmagi, which left behind at least 204 dead and 109 missing, according to the latest official government toll.
Kalmagi was the deadliest typhoon of the year, according to the specialised EM-DAT database. The central province of Cebu mourns nearly 70% of the victims. Search and rescue operations have been suspended due to the arrival of Fung-wong.
Every year, about twenty storms or typhoons hit or approach the Philippines. The poorest areas of the archipelago are usually those that suffer the heaviest blows.
According to scientists, climate change is making extreme weather events increasingly frequent, deadly, and destructive.
(information from skai.gr)
