Updated:2024-11-17 03:24 Views:76
This handout photo taken on November 15, 2024 and received courtesy of the Bloggers of Tuguegarao Facebook page shows an aerial view of a destroyed bridge in Gonzaga town, Cagayan province, a day after Typhoon Ofel (international name: Usagi) hit the province. (Photo by Handout / BLOGGERS OF TUGUEGARAO FACEBOOK PAGE / Agence France-Presse)
Once a typhoon and now a severe tropical storm Ofel (international name: Usagi) blew out of the Philippines early Friday as another dangerous typhoon drew closer, threatening an area where scores were killed by flash floods and landslides just weeks ago, the weather service said.
As Ofel — the archipelago nation’s fifth storm in three weeks — headed north to Taiwan, rescuers worked to reach residents stranded on rooftops in northern Luzon island, where herds of livestock were devastated.
Article continues after this advertisementThe recent wave of disasters has killed at least 159 people and prompted the United Nations to request $32.9 million in aid for the worst-affected regions.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Teachers Always Matter: REX and PEAC reaffirm commitment to the teaching profession GLOBALNATION Zelensky says Ukraine war will end 'sooner' with Trump in office GLOBALNATION DND: PH to continue purchase of missilesOn Thursday, flash floods driven by Ofel struck 10 largely evacuated villages around the town of Gonzaga in Cagayan province, local rescue official Edward Gaspar told AFP by phone.
“We rescued a number of people who had refused to move to the shelters and got trapped on their rooftops,” Gaspar added.
Article continues after this advertisementWhile the evacuation of more than 5,000 Gonzaga residents ahead of the typhoon saved lives, he said two houses were swept away and many others were damaged while the farming region’s livestock industry took a heavy blow.
Article continues after this advertisement“We have yet to account for the exact number of hogs, cattle and poultry lost from the floods, but I can say the losses were huge,” Gaspar said.
Article continues after this advertisementTrees uprooted by flooding damaged a major bridge in Gonzaga, isolating nearby Santa Ana, a coastal town of about 36,000 people, Cagayan officials said.
“Most evacuees have returned home, but we held back some of them. We have to check first if their houses are still safe for habitation,” Bonifacio Espiritu, operations chief of the Civil Defense Office in Cagayan, told AFP.
Article continues after this advertisementBy early Friday, Ofel was over the Luzon Strait with a reduced strength of 120 kilometers (75 miles) an hour as it headed towards southern Taiwan, where authorities had downgraded the typhoon to a severe tropical storm.
But the streak of violent weather was forecast to continue in the central Philippines, where typhoon Pepito (international name: Man-yi) is set to reach coastal waters by Sunday.
The weather service said it could potentially strike at or near the heavily populated capital Manila.
A UN assessment said the past month’s storms damaged or destroyed 207,000 houses, with 700,000 people forced to seek temporary shelter.
Many families were without essentials like sleeping mats, hygiene kits and cooking supplies, and had limited access to safe drinking water.
Thousands of hectares of farmland were destroyed and persistent flooding was likely to delay replanting efforts and worsen food supply problems, the report added.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people and keeping millions in enduring poverty.
However, it is unusual for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
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The weather service said this tends to happen during seasonal episodes of La Ninagcash player, a climatic phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that pushes more warm water toward Asia, causing heavy rains and flooding in the region and drought in the southern United States.
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