Philippine authorities yesterday canceled flights and urged residents and tourists to move to safer ground as a powerful typhoon approached northeastern parts of the main island of Luzon.
Packing winds of up to 160kph, Typhoon Koppu is about 300km east of Baler in Aurora province, moving west and expected to make landfall early today and is not expected to leave the archipelago until Tuesday, the government weather station said, adding that it could strengthen as it approaches the country.
Disaster agency officials said about 300 hundred people living in vulnerable coastal or low-lying areas had already sought shelter due to the risk of floods, landslides and storm surges of up to 2m.
“We are asking 2,000 foreign and local tourists, most of them surfers, to abandon seaside resorts and go to safer areas,” Baler municipal disaster official Gabriel Llave told radio station dzMM.
Rain had already started in Manila, although winds are not expected to be strong enough in the capital to cause damage.
Special government units are contacting towns that might be vulnerable to the storm to ensure they are prepared for the storm, officials said.
“If you are told you need to evacuate, then we appeal to you to evacuate,” Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director Alexander Pama said.
The weather bureau said ferries and fishing boats should also seek shelter or stay in port with a risk of the storm generating large sea swells.
AccuWeather, a weather information provider, said Koppu could drench large areas of rice-growing Luzon with between 300mm and 600mm of rain and cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides.
Airport authorities have grounded 14 domestic flights, while the Philippine Coast Guard has suspended a search for a missing yacht with four on board in the South China Sea.
On Friday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III appealed on TV to people not to panic and to make preparations. The last time Aquino made a televised appeal was in 2013, the day before Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines, killing more than 6,300 people and leaving millions homeless.
Authorities said that the powerful typhoon is likely to linger over the country for almost three days.
“It may be semi-stationary once it hits,” weather station director Espie Cayanan told reporters.
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