A third landing is expected to hit Quezon province later today.
MANILA:
A super typhoon hit the southern part of Philippines’ main island Luzon on Sunday, bringing “catastrophic” high winds and heavy rains with two landings so far, the meteorological office said.
Typhoon Goni is the world‘s strongest storm to date this year, gaining even more force with sustained winds and gusts of 225 km / h (140 miles per hour) reaching 310 km / h (190 mph) .
Philippine authorities evacuated nearly a million people to safer ground before Goni approached the eastern provinces and made landfall in Catanduanes and Albay in the Bicol region.
The meteorological office said “catastrophic high winds and intense to torrential rains” are expected to prevail over Bicol provinces as well as parts of Quezon, Laguna and Batangas, south of the capital Manila.
“It is a particularly dangerous situation for these areas,” he said in a 00:00 GMT bulletin.
The capital Manila was also in the projected path of Goni, the country’s 18th tropical storm.
A third landing is expected to hit Quezon province later today, weather forecaster Lorie dela Cruz told a radio station.
Between 19 and 31 million people could be affected, including those in dangerous areas, the disaster management agency said.
Storm surge alerts were issued, while officials also reminded people in evacuation centers to observe social distancing as the spread of the coronavirus is also a concern.
Dozens of international and domestic flights have been canceled as civil aviation authorities ordered the one-day closure of Manila’s main gateway, Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Goni is among the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines since Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013.
It follows Typhoon Molave, which hit the Philippines last month, killing 22 people, mostly by drowning in provinces south of Manila.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
