MANILA, Philippines – Philippine authorities on Monday ordered more than 100,000 people living along the country’s east coast to evacuate as approaching Typhoon Pedring (international name: Nesat) forced schools to close and flights to be cancelled.
Pedring was expected to make landfall Tuesday morning along the vulnerable eastern edge of the Philippines’ main Luzon island, then dump heavy rains hundreds of kilometres (miles) inland to areas including the capital of Manila.
“We expect hazards such as landslides, flash floods, strong winds and storm surges,” Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) weather forecaster Robert Sawi told reporters.
He said storm alert warnings had been hoisted over most of Luzon, home to more than 48 million people, or more than half the Philippines’ population.
The weather bureau warned that Pedring, already packing winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour near its centre and gusts of up to 150 kilometres an hour, would continue to build in strength while at sea.
Pedring was expected to unload between up to 25 millimetres (one inch) of rain an hour at a radius of 650 kilometres (400 miles), according to the bureau.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 111,930 residents from five towns that were highly prone to landslides and floods in the eastern province of Albay had already been ordered to move to safer ground.
Several domestic flights were also cancelled Monday, while schools in Manila and nearby provinces were suspended in preparation for the storm, disaster relief officials said.
Pedring’s rains would also affect the southern island of Mindanao, where a major river system overflowed its banks due to heavy rains that began last week, killing two and displacing over 11,000 families, the weather bureau said.
An average of 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines yearly.
Super Typhoon Mina (international name: Nanmadol) killed 35 in August, while at least 70 others were killed by storms Juaning and Kabayan (Nock-ten and Muifa, respectively) in July.
Exactly two years ago Monday, Tropical Storm Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) left 464 people dead after flooding more than 80 percent of Manila.