A powerful storm pummeled the northern Philippines on Wednesday, resulting in the loss of life, uprooted trees, and power outages as thousands sought refuge with their neighbors or in emergency evacuation centers.
Typhoon Doksuri, with sustained wind speeds of up to 175 kilometers per hour (110 mph), was situated above the waters near Dalupiri Island, just off the northern tip of Luzon, according to the latest update from the state weather agency at 0300 GMT.
The agency cautioned of “violent, life-threatening conditions” as the region experienced severe winds and heavy rainfall.
In Ramon municipality, within the northern province of Isabela, a woman selling bread rolls tragically lost her life when she was struck by a falling coconut tree during the storm, shared Constante Foronda, a provincial disaster official.
Rey Aguinaldo, a retired government official from the coastal municipality of Pasuquin in Ilocos Norte province, recounted, “The overnight wind and rain were so intense that I couldn’t sleep well. When I woke up today, I discovered fallen trees and broken branches outside. We are currently without electricity.”
Doksuri was classified as a super typhoon during its journey across the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, but gradually weakened as it approached the Philippines. It is expected to further weaken as it moves over the South China Sea, skirting Taiwan on its way to southeastern China.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s southeastern coast experienced high waves, leading the Central Weather Bureau to issue warnings and heavy rain advisories.
In anticipation of the storm, China has also issued its highest alert level for Doksuri, halting train services and instructing fishing boats to return to shore.
Doksuri is projected to weaken further before making landfall on Friday morning.
Thousands Forced to Evacuate
In Cagayan province, approximately 12,000 individuals, including 431 residents of the Babuyan islands, were evacuated from their homes due to the threat of three-meter storm surges, as informed by Cagayan provincial disaster official Ruelie Rapsing to AFP.
Dalupiri is one of the five islands comprising the small Babuyan archipelago.
Reports of flooding have also emerged from the coastal municipalities of Lallo, Pamplona, and Claveria.
About 1,500 people from coastal communities in the neighboring Isabela province have also been evacuated, according to Foronda. He mentioned, “We will not allow them to return home until we receive the all-clear from experts.”
Some evacuees have sought shelter with neighbors who have concrete houses, while others have been accommodated in municipal halls.
“The roof of the Sanchez Mira municipal hall was blown off,” Rapsing revealed. “The windows of an evacuation center there also broke, so we had to relocate them to multi-purpose halls back in their villages.”
The weather agency also cautioned that the typhoon has intensified the seasonal southwest monsoon, leading to heavy rains across Luzon and the central islands.
© 2023 AFP
Citation: One dead as Typhoon Doksuri batters Philippines (2023, July 26) retrieved 26 July 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-07-dead-typhoon-doksuri-batters-philippines.html
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