Tropical Storm Fengshen forces mass evacuations in Philippines
Thousands of residents along the Pacific coast of the Philippines have evacuated as Tropical Storm Fengshen approaches, prompting warnings of potential coastal flooding.
The storm’s eye is expected to pass near Catanduanes, a vulnerable island home to 270,000 people, later Saturday, bringing gusts up to 80 km/h (50 mph), rescue officials said, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
Fengshen will bring heavy rainfall, along with a “minimal to moderate risk” of coastal flooding from 1.2-metre (3.2-foot) waves being pushed ashore, the government weather service said.
More than 9,000 residents of Catanduanes moved to safer ground, the provincial disaster office said, in an often-repeated drill on the island that has previously been the first major landmass hit by cyclones that form in the western Pacific Ocean.
The Catanduanes provincial government ordered local officials to “activate their respective evacuation plans” for residents of “high-risk areas”, including the coast, low-lying communities and landslide-prone slopes, rescue official Gerry Rubio told the AFP news agency.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, striking disaster-prone areas where millions of impoverished people live.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Fengshen comes as the country is still reeling from a series of major earthquakes and typhoons that killed dozens of people in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, at least 79 people were killed in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu province in the central Philippines.
Days later, another earthquake struck, this time a magnitude 7.4 off the coast of the southern Philippines, killing at least six people and triggering a second, magnitude 6.9 quake later in the day. Tsunami warnings were issued after each earthquake.
In late September, several people were killed and thousands were evacuated from villages and schools in the northern Philippines, while offices were closed, as Typhoon Ragasa struck.
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