Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines closed schools and canceled many flights on September 25 as a fresh storm threatened to hit just days after Super Typhoon Ragasa killed nine people in the nation.
Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi is forecast to intensify into a typhoon on September 26 and then slam into the southern end of the Philippines’ largest island, Luzon.
Speaking at a press briefing, Benison Estareja from the nation’s weather service warned of widespread flooding and landslides in mountainous areas, adding that waves of up to three metres could pose a serious threat to lives.
Administrator of the Office of Civil Defence (OCD) Harold Cabreros said that the rains are continuous and may cause renewed flooding and landslides in the north of the Southeast Asian nation, and especially in areas that are already saturated.
The Philippine Coast Guard announced that around 1,500 people were stranded in ports of Bicol, the region where the storm is forecast to hit. Meanwhile, thousands are still displaced in the rain-soaked nation after Super Typhoon Ragasa passed over the country’s far northern region.
Earlier, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pledged that the government had stockpiled food, medicine, and other relief supplies in areas expected to be hit by Bualoi.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, putting millions of people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty. Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the earth warms due to the effects of human-driven climate change./.
