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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Powerful typhoon plows into Philippines

The Columbian
Published:

MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the eastern Philippines on Saturday, pounding communities with torrential rains and howling winds.

More than half a million people huddled in evacuation centers, officials said.

Hagupit’s winds were packed maximum winds of more than 100 mph when it reached land in the town of Dolores in Eastern Samar province, 340 miles southeast of Manila, the weather bureau said.

Hagupit (a Filipino word for lash or whip) maintained its strength after hitting land, weather forecaster Fernando Cada said.

The weather bureau raised its storm signal over Manila and other northern provinces to number 1, the lowest level in a four-tier warning system. Rain is expected in that area by Sunday evening.

The typhoon will hit land in nearby Masbate province, Sibuyan Island, Romblon province and Mindoro Island, Cada said.

Electricity was cut off in many parts of the provinces of Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Samar and Leyte, including Tacloban City, which was still recovering from last year’s supertyphoon Haiyan.

Communications were also cut off in some of the affected areas, according to Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who was in Borongon City, 30 miles from Dolores.

“Everything has been prepared,” he said. “People have done what they need to do to keep safe, but these areas will definitely need help after the typhoon because it’s really very strong.”

More than 616,000 people had moved to evacuation centers in more than 20 provinces, the national disaster risk management council said.

Hagupit, which has a diameter of 370 miles, was affecting some areas devastated by Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in November 2013.

Civil aviation authorities ordered the closing of six airports in the eastern and central Philippines, prompting the cancellations of nearly 100 domestic flights and stranding thousands of passengers.

Sea travel was also prohibited, and more than 2,000 people were stuck in over a dozen ports, the disaster risk management council said.

International aid agencies were on high alert and prepared to respond.

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