At least seven people were killed yesterday as Typhoon Goni pounded the Philippines, ripping off roofs, toppling power lines and causing flooding in the hardest-hit areas where hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.
The strongest typhoon of the year also triggered deadly landslides that buried a number of houses in the southern part of the most populous island of Luzon, officials said.
Goni was a classified a “super typhoon” when it made landfall on Catanduanes Island before dawn, packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 225kph.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It was downgraded a few hours later as it swept across Luzon and reduced intensity as it headed toward the capital, Manila, where the sprawling city of 12 million was bracing for strong winds in the evening.
“Destructive winds and intense rainfall” were affecting areas in the typhoon’s path, including provinces near the capital, the state weather forecaster said.
At least seven people were killed in Albay province, the Philippine Office of Civil Defense said in a statement.
Several of the victims died in rain-induced landslides of volcanic ash that police said engulfed numerous houses in two adjacent villages near the active Mayon volcano.
“We have recovered three bodies and are looking for three more,” said Major Domingo Tapel, chief of police in the town of Guinobatan.
The roofs of at least two evacuation centers were torn off by the force of the wind, while floods inundated some villages.
“The winds are fierce. We can hear the trees being pummeled. It’s very strong,” Francia Mae Borras, 21, said from her home in the nearby coastal city of Legazpi.
Nearly 400,000 people have fled their homes, most of them to evacuation centers, the Office of Civil Defense said.
Officials in affected areas have reported power cuts, which are disrupting telecommunication services and hampering efforts to assess the extent of the damage.
“Our roads have a lot of debris from the mountains such as branches and sand, some which came from Mayon. Some roads are unpassable,” said Camalig Mayor Carlos Irwin Baldo of his town near Legazpi.
In Manila, the airport was closed and residents were evacuated from low-lying slum areas at risk of being inundated by storm surges.
Thousands of soldiers and police were on standby to help with evacuations and rescue efforts.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS