Storm Atsane, which has gusts of up to 80 kilometers per hour and is gaining strength over the Pacific Ocean, is expected to make landfall later this week.
At least 20 people were killed after Typhoon Goni – the strongest typhoon in the world this year – struck the Philippines, knocking down power lines and causing floods and landslides that destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
The nation’s disaster management agency said on Monday that the dead had fallen in the hard-hit eastern provinces of Albay and Catanduanes.
Goni, which hit the provinces south of the capital Manila on Sunday with winds up to 310 kilometers per hour (190 mph), is the 18th hitting the Philippines this year and one of the strongest typhoons since Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people in 2013..
And now, another storm, Atsani, which has speeds of up to 80 km per hour (49 mph) is gaining strength over the Pacific Ocean and is expected to make landfall later this week.
“It’s not as strong [Goni] “But it will cause damage to its tracks, roads and bridges,” President Rodrigo Duterte said in a televised cabinet meeting.
Officials said the forced evacuation of more than 345,000 people before the hurricane averted more deaths.
A man looks at his home through the whirling waters of a sudden flood brought by Hurricane Goni in Parangay Bosai, Daraga Town, Alpay Province [Nino N Luces/ Reuters]
Ricardo Gallad, head of disaster management, said Güney has partially damaged more than 55,000 homes and leveled 20,000 more.
Provincial Governor Joseph Kua told a news conference that 13,000 more homes, some of them inundated by a storm up to five meters (16.4 feet), were damaged in the island province of Catanduanes when Goni made landfall on Sunday.
“Although there are no more hurricanes, we do not have the means of air and sea transportation,” Kowa said.
‘Relentless proceeding’
At least six people were killed in Catanduanes. Most of the island’s power lines were damaged in the cyclone, and reports from the towns were only pouring in, indicating a possible high death toll there.
We hope help will arrive soon. “We have a shortage of money,” Kua told CNN Philippines.
The head of the Philippine Red Cross said he was “appalled by the damage” Gonyi had caused in areas including Catanduanes.
Up to 90 percent of homes were severely damaged or destroyed in some areas. This hurricane has shattered people’s lives and livelihoods as well as the relentless physical, emotional and economic toll of COVID-19.
In Alpay County, where 14 people have died, the regional chief of disaster management has also reported “massive damage to infrastructure and housing”.
“A lot of people are hungry. They have already suffered from COVID due to job losses and dislocation. Some don’t even have kitchen appliances,” Cedric Dayp said.
Seven of the victims were in a town hit by a landslide from volcanic ash from a nearby active Mayon volcano.
The mayor of Jinopatan told local media that 147 homes were flooded, and some were now uninhabitable.
On the other hand, in Batangas city south of the capital Manila, the Philippine Coast Guard and other government agencies have scrambled to rescue hundreds of people trapped in their homes by the flood waters.
Mellor, Camariens Sur #Gony #Rolife pic.twitter.com/2bEbAhoZHW
– Beautiful Alindogan (jamelaaisha) November 2, 2020
“The flood took only minutes, not hours, but minutes,” Alona Espino in Batangas told AFP.
“We have never seen floods raging at this speed.”
Residents of provinces south of Manila have begun disinfecting homes of mud and debris, while residents in communities still inundated by floods have been separated in tents inside evacuation centers to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Before it hit Goni, the Philippines was grappling with the impact of Hurricane Mulaf, which killed 22 people, most of them drowned, in southern Manila provinces.
Vietnam said that the Goni region is expected to hit its central coast on Wednesday night, causing more torrential rains to fall in an area where floods and landslides in the past month killed around 160 people and left dozens missing.
