PHILIPPINES. Manila: The main island of Luzon, which includes Manila, is bracing for a category 3 typhoon that is strengthening, officials said. The Philippine government began evacuating residents from coastal areas on Sunday, and hundreds could not travel by sea.
With sustained winds increasing to 185 km/h (115 mph) from 120 kph on Saturday evening, Typhoon Noru became a supertyphoon “following a period of rapid intensification,” the disaster agency stated in a statement.
The storm is expected to keep worsening and might hit land on Sunday afternoon or evening with sustained winds of 185 to 205 kph (115 to 127 mph).
Helen Tan, the governor of Quezon province, told the DZRH radio station, “I asked our mayors to abide by stringent preventive evacuations.” She claimed that fishermen in coastal towns were prohibited from going to sea.
On Sunday afternoon, Noru, the 11th tropical storm to reach the Philippines this year, would dump heavy to torrential amounts of rain on the nation’s capital and surrounding provinces.
According to disaster agency spokeswoman Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, “Hopefully, this typhoon goes rapidly, even though it brings severe winds.” He warned that authorities are on high alert for damaging winds, flooding, and landslides.
More than 1,200 passengers and 28 vessels, according to the Philippine Coast Guard, were trapped in ports south of the city.
By late Sunday or early Monday, Noru—which was travelling west—would likely be visible over the South China Sea.
The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, experiences 20 tropical storms on average each year.
When Typhoon Rai slammed the nation in December 2021, it is estimated that 400 people died, with rescue workers describing scenes of “total carnage.”
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