Thousands of residents of a Philippine island have fled their homes along the Pacific coast as weather experts warned of coastal flooding ahead of the approach of Tropical Storm Fengshen, rescue officials said.
The eye of the storm was forecast to brush past Catanduanes, an impoverished island of 270,000 people, later on Saturday with gusts of up to 80 km/h (50 mph).
Fengshen will bring heavy rainfall, along with a “minimal to moderate risk” of coastal flooding from 1.2-metre (3.2-foot) waves being pushed ashore, the government weather service said.
More than 9,000 residents of Catanduanes moved to safer ground, the provincial disaster office said, in an often-repeated drill on the island that has previously been the first major landmass hit by cyclones that form in the western Pacific Ocean.
The Catanduanes provincial government ordered local officials to “activate their respective evacuation plans” for residents of “high-risk areas,” including the coast, low-lying communities, and landslide-prone slopes. Rescue official Gerry Rubio told the AFP news agency that these measures were necessary to ensure public safety.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, often striking disaster-prone areas where millions of impoverished people live. Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Tropical Storm Fengshen comes as the country is still reeling from a series of major earthquakes and typhoons that have killed dozens of people in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, at least 79 people were killed in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu province in the central Philippines. Days later, another earthquake struck—a magnitude 7.4 off the coast of the southern Philippines—killing at least six people and triggering a second magnitude 6.9 quake later that day. Tsunami warnings were issued following each earthquake.
In late September, several people were killed, and thousands were evacuated from villages and schools in the northern Philippines while offices were closed as Typhoon Ragasa struck.
The government continues to monitor the situation closely as communities prepare for the impact of Tropical Storm Fengshen.
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