Haunted by Typhoon Haiyan’s devastation last year, more than 600,000 people fled Philippine villages and the military went on full alert yesterday to brace for a powerful storm that was just hours away from the nation’s east coast.
Typhoon Hagupit — Filipino for “smash” or “lash” — was expected to slam into the central Philippines late yesterday and hammer parts of a region where Haiyan’s tsunami-like storm surges and ferocious winds left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in November last year. Hagupit weakened slightly, but remained powerful and erratic.
“We’re on red alert, so the entire armed forces is being mobilized for this typhoon,” Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang told a news conference after discussing last-minute preparations.
Photo: Reuters
Troops from the nation’s 120,000-member military deployed to supermarkets and major roads in provinces in the typhoon’s path to prevent looting and chaos and to clear debris, all of which slowed the government’s response last year, Catapang said.
Although it is unlikely to reach Haiyan’s unprecedented strength, forecasters said Hagupit’s maximum sustained winds of 175kph and gusts of 210kph were strong enough to set off deadly storm surges and landslides, and cause heavy damage to communities and agriculture.
With a whirling band of rain clouds spanning 600km, Hagupit had gained speed and was moving west at 16kph, forecasters said.
“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.”
The 42-year-old businessman, who lost his wife, daughter and mother last year in Tacloban, said he stocked up on sardines, instant noodles, eggs and water.
More than 600,000 people have been moved to safety, including in Tacloban.
A UN humanitarian agency spokesman, Denis McClean, said in Geneva, Switzerland, that it was one of the largest peacetime evacuations in Philippine history.
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