Ladybbird

Typhoon Slams into Philippines, 1 Million+ Evacuated

By Rosemarie Francisco, MANILA, Dec 6 (Reuters) -


A powerful typhoon roared into the eastern Philippines today, Saturday, bringing lashing rain and strong winds that felled trees, ripped off tin roofs and toppled power lines in areas still bearing the scars of a super typhoon 13 months ago.

About 1 million people had already fled to shelters by the time Typhoon Hagupit made landfall, in what a U.N. agency said was one of the world's biggest peacetime evacuations.


As the storm barrelled in from the Pacific, power was cut across most of the central island of Samar and nearby Leyte province, including Tacloban City, considered ground zero of the devastating super typhoon Haiyan last year.

"The wind is blowing so strongly, it's like it is whirling," Mabel Evardone, an official of the coastal town of Sulat in Eastern Samar, said on local radio. "The waters have risen now."

There was no word of any casualties.

Hagupit had weakened to a category 3 storm, two notches below "Super Typhoon", but could still unleash huge destruction with torrential rain and potentially disastrous storm surges of up to 4.5 metres (15 ft), the weather bureau PAGASA said.

The eye of the typhoon hit the town of Dolores, Eastern Samar at 9:15 p.m. (1315 GMT), PAGASA said, adding the storm maintained its strength, with winds of up to 175 kph (110 mph) near the centre and gusts of up to 210 kph (130 mph).

"We can expect that heavy rains were dumped on Eastern Samar because Ruby hovered for a long time over the coastal areas," weather forecaster Jori Loiz said on radio, referring to the local name of typhoon Hagupit.

The weather bureau said Hagupit - which means "lash" in Filipino - maintained its projected path towards Masbate, Romblon and Oriental Mindoro provinces, slightly north of areas devastated by super typhoon Haiyan last year.
PAGASA earlier said the storm was moving north northwest at 16 kph (10 mph).

"Ruby's lashing will be severe," Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas told government radio. "Let's be alert. Let's evacuate to prevent any harm to your families."

Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific cancelled about 100 flights to central and southern Philippines on Saturday.

Residents of low-lying villages and landslide-prone areas have fled to schools, civic centres, town halls, gyms and churches, the national disaster agency said.

"We received reports about a million+ people evacuating already. There is increased awareness to make early action and co-operate and do pre-emptive evacuation," Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a television interview.

At least 50 municipalities in the central Philippines and the southern part of the country's main Luzon island were at risk of storm surges, the Science and Technology department said.

The typhoon was unlikely to hit the capital Manila, home to around 12 million people, the agency said.

"Typhoon Hagupit is triggering one of the largest evacuations we have ever seen in peacetime," said Denis McClean, spokesman of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva.

Relief agency Refugees International said in a statement it was "deeply concerned" that evacuation centres may not be safe.

"A damage assessment of designated evacuation centres in typhoon-affected areas indicated that in some places - such as Eastern Samar, where Hagupit is headed - less than 10 percent of evacuation centres were likely to withstand future typhoons," the group said.


LESSONS LEARNED


The United States had offered to send nine C-130 transport aircraft, three P-3C Orion, and medical and relief workers, said Major Emmanuel Garcia, commander of the Armed Forces' 7th civil relations group.
Other foreign governments also sent word they were ready to help the disaster-prone Southeast Asian nation, he said.

The islands of Samar and Leyte were worst-hit by 250 kph (155 mph) winds and storm surges brought by Typhoon Haiyan in November.

"There has been a tremendous amount of learning from last year," said Greg Matthews, emergency response advisor at the International Rescue Committee. "There have been reports from our field officers and partners that people are evacuating themselves. They are aware of the situation."

Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall, left more than 7,000 dead or missing and more than 4 million homeless or with damaged houses. About 25,000 people in Eastern Samar and Leyte still live in tents, shelters and bunkhouses.

International humanitarian agencies and non-government groups, which have been supporting Haiyan-devastated communities in the central Philippines, are preparing to mobilize aid and relief efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Hagupit.

Soldiers were deployed to urban centres, particularly in Tacloban City, where widespread looting broke out after Haiyan.

"The soldiers will help our police counterparts in maintaining peace and order, and prevent looting incidents," said Colonel Restituto Padilla Jr, armed forces spokesman.


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As the storm made landfall, power was cut across Samar and Leyte islands, which bore the brunt of Super Typhoon Haiyan on November 8 last year. That storm killed 7300 people and displaced 4.1 million others.
Winds in excess of 120km/h hit Tacloban, the capital of Leyte that was considered Haiyan's ground zero.

"The wind is blowing so strongly, it's like it is whirling," Mabel Evardone, an official of the coastal town of Sulat in Eastern Samar said on local radio.




A girl walks along the shore as strong waves from Typhoon Hagupit begin to hit Atimonan in the eastern Philippines. Photo: AP


"The waters have risen now."


Families crowded into churches, schools and other makeshift evacuation centres across the islands of Samar, Leyte and Cebu in what relief officials described as one the country's largest peacetime evacuations.
Hagupit had weakened to a category 3 storm as it moved across the Pacific on Friday and early Saturday, well below "super typhoon" category.




Filipino families seek refuge at a school used as an evacuation centre. Photo: AP


But experts warned it is still the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year and would bring hugely destructive winds and storm surges up to 4.5 metres.
Hagupit – Filipino for lash – packed wind gusts of up to 240km/h and a thunderstorm 15 kilometres tall sat at its centre as it tracked towards the Philippines.


The storm has a giant front of more than 600 kilometres.





A satellite image of Typhoon Hagupit over the Philippines late on Saturday. Photo: NASA


Learning the lessons of Haiyan, towns in Hagupit's projected path boarded up homes and shops and stacked sandbags.

"The people themselves are preparing and do not think twice about leaving their homes. They know what to do," said Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman.

Weather forecasters expect Hagupit – called Ruby locally – to move more than 800 kilometres north-west after making landfall in Eastern Samar province, through 47 of the country's 81 provinces. It could reach as far as Manila, a city of more than 12 million people, many of whom live in low-lying areas vulnerable to severe flooding.

Airlines have cancelled almost 200 flights to central and southern Philippines as ports shut and sea travel was suspended.

Relief agencies said the extent of initial damage caused by Hagupit would not be known until daylight breaks on Sunday.

Scientists say unusually strong storms to hit the Philippines in recent years are linked to climate change.

The country endures an average of 20 typhoons a year.


Forecast: Increasing Danger for Philippines





Hagupit Forecast Path





PAGASA has issued public storm warning signals for 36 geographic areas, spanning from southeastern portions of Luzon (the main northern island) through the Visayas (central Philippines) and northeastern parts of Mindanao (the main southern island).


The island of Samar in the Visayas nearest the initial arrival of the landfall was raised to Public Storm Warning Signal No. 3, meaning winds of 100-185 kph (62 to 115 mph) are expected "in at least 18 hours."

PAGASA also placed a large part of this region in Public Storm Warning Signal No. 2, meaning 61 to 100 kph (38 to 62 mph) are possible "in at least 24 hours." Metro Cebu, the second-largest metropolitan area in the country after Metro Manila, is included in Public Storm Warning Signal No. 2.

First, the typhoon is expected to approach the eastern shores of the central Philippines (Eastern Visayas Region) on Saturday evening local time (Saturday morning U.S. time).

While it still remains a bit uncertain whether the center of Hagupit will technically "make landfall", the most intense eyewall winds will arrive in Samar Island (particularly northern and eastern parts of the island), and perhaps also affecting northern Leyte Island (including Tacloban City) Saturday evening, continuing into Sunday, local time.

During this initial period of contact with land, Hagupit will likely unleash its most powerful winds. It should be at least a Category 4 equivalent tropical cyclone by that time, but may possibly be a Category 5 storm.

In areas where the wind blows onshore, dangerous storm surge is likely. Philippine officials have issued storm surge advisories for a number of communities at risk. Some communities on the islands of Samar and Leyte are at risk of storm surge up to 4 meters (13 feet) according to the alerts, equivalent to the height of a one-story home.


Model Rainfall Forecast





As Hagupit grinds west-northwest across the Philippines, the danger will gradually transition from one of wind damage and storm surge to one of heavy rainfall.


Again, there is some uncertainty in Hagupit's path and forward speed, but in general its center should move in the general direction of Metro Manila. The process is expected to be agonizingly slow -- potentially taking 48-72 hours to move from the eastern Philippines to Metro Manila.

We expect Hagupit's winds to have weakened considerably upon nearing Manila, however, some downed trees/tree limbs, power outages, and structural damage is still possible, there, Monday.

In general, a tropical cyclone's rainfall potential depends on how slowly it moves, not its intensity. Hagupit will be moving along very slowly over an area with rugged terrain. As a result, rainfall totals could be extraordinarily high -- locally exceeding 2 feet -- leading to landslides, debris flows, and life-threatening flash floods.

Just three years ago in December 2011, Tropical Storm Washi (Sendong) dumped tremendous rainfall on the island of Mindanao, causing massive floods that killed 1,268 people. Winnie was only of tropical depression strength when it triggered deadly flooding in late Nov. 2004.


Over the past 10 years, six separate tropical cyclones have claimed over 1,000 lives in the Philippines, including:





Pray for those poor people folks, many have not recovered from the last Typhoon -Ladybbird

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