725,000 people evacuated as typhoon slams into Philippines

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: 725,000 people evacuated as typhoon slams into Philippines About 725,000 people fled their homes and communities braced for heavy rain and coastal floods of up to 4 meters (13 feet) as Typhoon Melor slammed on Monday into the eastern Philippines, officials said. Classes, flights and ferry trips were suspended. The government’s weather bureau said the typhoon was packing winds of 150 kilometers per hour with gusts of up to 185 kph (115 mph), and heavy to intense rain within its 300-kilometer diameter. It made landfall on Monday morning on tiny Batag Island in the eastern Philippines, and a second landfall was expected in Sorsogon province. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 724,839 residents of three eastern provinces were evacuated Sunday and early Monday before the storm’s arrival. The largest numbers of evacuees were in Sorsogon and Albay provinces. Bernardo Alejandro, a regional civil defence official, said many residents of Sorsogon voluntarily went to shelters on Sunday night, but the provincial governor then ordered evacuations on Monday for residents who had refused to leave their homes despite the risk of floods and landslides.   About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines each year. In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon on record to make landfall, left more than 7,300 people dead and missing as it levelled entire villages and swept walls of seawater into parts of the central Philippines. news@7days.ae Read the original story at: 725,000 people evacuated as typhoon slams into Philippines