A ferocious and dangerously erratic typhoon blew closer to the Philippines yesterday, as differing forecasts about its path — one predicting it will graze the capital, Manila — prompted a much wider swath of the country to prepare for a weekend of destructive winds and rain.
Typhoon Hagupit — Filipino for “lash” — was expected to blast in from the Pacific Ocean into central Philippines late today, lashing parts of a region that was devastated by last year’s Typhoon Haiyan and left more than 7,300 people dead and missing. Still, the good news was that the typhoon was weakening as it blew closer to the coast.
“I’m scared,” Haiyan survivor Jojo Moro said. “I’m praying to God not to let another disaster strike us again. We haven’t recovered from the first.”
Photo: AFP
At least 47 of the country’s 81 provinces are considered potentially at high risk from Hagupit, officials said. The first one in its path is Eastern Samar province where it is expected to make landfall. It is then expected to cut across central islands along a route north. However, its path thereafter is debatable.
The computer models of the two agencies tracking the typhoon closely — the US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii and the Philippine weather agency — showed different tracks for the typhoon.
The US agency said Hagupit might veer north after coming inland and sweep past the southern edge of the national capital region, a metropolis of more than 12 million people. The Philippine agency, known by its acronym PAGASA, projected a more southern track. However both tracks appeared to be coming closer together as the landfall time approaches.
Also, both agencies said the typhoon is slowly losing strength. PAGASA said it is now packing winds of 195kph and gusts of 230kph. The US center in Hawaii downgraded the typhoon’s status from a super typhoon and said it was expected to continue losing strength with winds dropping to 175kph by tomorrow morning.
“Although it’s been reported that the typhoon has lost strength, it doesn’t mean that our readiness will also weaken,” said Alexander Pama, who heads the country’s disaster-response agency.
Hagupit’s erratic behavior prompted the Philippine government to call an emergency meeting of Metro Manila mayors. Philippine Secretary of Defense Voltaire Gazmin said he would rather “over-prepare than under-prepare.”
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said that authorities have alerted residents.
“We are ready,” Estrada said, but added that “these typhoons change direction all the time.”
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS