| October 17 2015 11:36 AM | Tropical Storm | Philippines | Multiple areas, [Island of Luzon] |  |  |
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| Updated: | Sunday, 18 October, 2015 at 09:52 UTC |
| Description | |
| Thousands of residents of the northern Philippines were forced to flee Sunday as Typhoon Koppu began its multiday battering of the region. The fierce storm is forecast to lumber over the country's main island of Luzon at an excruciatingly slow pace and dump huge amounts of rain on the rugged terrain, setting off floods and landslides. Koppu came ashore in the early hours of Sunday morning at super typhoon strength, ripping the roofs off buildings and uprooting trees in the coastal province of Aurora. "Through the night, we've had extremely ferocious wind, torrential rain," storm chaser James Reynolds told CNN from the town of Maddela. "The building I'm in -- the water's been coming in the windows." Roads and communications to three towns in Aurora province have been cut off by flooding and landslides, including Casiguran, where the typhoon made landfall, authorities reported. "Based on the report of the Philippine Army, there were many houses destroyed and trees uprooted in the three towns," the official Philippines News Agency said. The army and other agencies are trying to clear the routes to Casiguran, which has about 25,000 inhabitants, and the other towns, Dinalungan and Dilasag, it reported. In Baler, another town in Aurora, CNN Philippines reporter Paul Garcia said there was flooding in several neighborhoods. Surprised local residents said that while storms are common in the area, flooding is not, Garcia reported. Roughly 15,000 people are taking shelter in evacuation centers, the Philippines' disaster management agency said Sunday. That number is expected to rise as the storm, known in the Philippines as Lando, crawls across northern Luzon. No casualties have been reported so far, according to the agency. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 240 kph (150 mph) when it slammed into the eastern coast of Luzon, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, although the Philippines' national weather agency measured the winds as being significantly weaker, at 185 kph. The typhoon has since lost some of its strength as it has moved over land. The typhoon is predicted to dawdle across northern Luzon for several days because of a ridge of high pressure over China blocking its progress farther north. That gives it longer than usual to soak the region's mountains and swell its rivers, threatening people who live downhill and downstream. "That's where the problem with the flash flooding comes in, because when you have all of this rain that keeps coming down over the same places over and over, that is likely to trigger mudslides and landslides in addition to flash flooding problems in ... some of the low-lying areas," Chinchar said. Officials reported dozens of flight cancellations, thousands of people stranded in ports and many municipalities without power. | |
| Updated: | Sunday, 18 October, 2015 at 12:06 UTC |
| Description | |
| Slow-moving Typhoon Koppu weakened after blowing ashore with fierce winds in the northeastern Philippines on Sunday, leaving at least one person dead and six others missing, while displacing 16,000 villagers, officials said. Army troops and police were deployed to rescue residents trapped in flooded villages in the hard-hit provinces of Aurora, where the typhoon blew ashore early Sunday, and Nueva Ecija, a nearby rice-growing province where floodwaters swamped farmlands at harvest time, officials said. After slamming into Aurora's Casiguran town after midnight Saturday, the typhoon weakened and slowed considerably, hemmed in by the Sierra Madre mountain range and a high pressure area in the country's north and another typhoon far out in the Pacific in the east, government forecaster Gladys Saludes said. Howling winds knocked down trees and electric posts, leaving nine entire provinces without power while floods and small landslides made 25 roads and bridges impassable. Authorities suspended dozens of flights and sea voyages due to the stormy weather, and many cities canceled classes on Monday. By Sunday afternoon, the typhoon had veered toward the north from its westward course and was tracked over mountainous Nueva Vizcaya province with sustained winds of 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 185 kph (115 mph), according to the government's weather agency. Satellite images show that the typhoon appeared to be losing its eye, a sign of its dissipating strength, acting weather bureau chief Esperanza Cayanan told reporters, adding that Koppu was forecast to move at a slow pace of 5 kph (3 mph) across the north before exiting the main northern island of Luzon on Wednesday. While weather had begun to improve in some towns, and villagers had started to clear roads of fallen trees and debris, Koppu was still packing a ferocity that could set off landslides and flash floods, officials said. "There's still danger," Cayanan said. "We shouldn't be complacent." A teenager was pinned to death on Sunday by a fallen tree, which also injured four people and damaged three houses in suburban Quezon city in the Manila metropolis. A man was electrocuted in northern Tarlac province and two bodies were seen being swept by floodwaters in Nueva Ecija, but authorities were trying to determine whether those were typhoon-related deaths. Three fishermen were reported missing in northern Bataan province, along with three other men in Aurora's Baler town, according to the Office of Civil Defense. President Benigno Aquino III and disaster-response agencies have warned that Koppu's rain and winds may potentially bring more damage with its slow speed. But Saludes, the government forecaster, said there was less heavy rain than expected initially in some areas, including in Manila, but fierce winds lashed many regions. A wayward barge carrying coal and 10 crew drifted dangerously close to a breakwater and marina in Manila Bay. A tugboat positioned to prevent the barge from drifting away. Forecasters said the typhoon had a cloud band of 600 kilometers (372 miles) and could dump rain over much of Luzon. | |
| Updated: | Monday, 19 October, 2015 at 06:14 UTC |
| Description | |
| Army, police and civilian volunteers scrambled Monday to rescue hundreds of villagers trapped in their flooded homes and on rooftops in a northern Philippine province battered by slow-moving Typhoon Koppu. The typhoon blew ashore into northeastern Aurora province with fierce wind and heavy rains early Sunday, leaving at least two dead, forcing more than 16,000 villagers from their homes, and leaving nine provinces without electricity. But after its landfall, the typhoon weakened, hemmed in by the Sierra Madre mountain range and a high pressure area in the country's north and another typhoon far out in the Pacific in the east, government forecasters said. By Monday morning Koppu was located over Ilocos Norte province with winds of 74 miles per hour and gusts of up to 93 mph. Several of the affected provinces, led by Nueva Ecija, were inundated by flash floods that swelled rivers and cascaded down mountainsides, trapping villagers in their homes and on rooftops, said Nigel Lontoc of the Office of Civil Defense. "There were some people who needed to be rescued from the roofs of their homes," Lontoc told The Associated Press by telephone on Monday. "But our rescuers couldn't penetrate because the floodwaters were still high." Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers have converged on Nueva Ecija, a landlocked, rice-growing province in the heartland of the main northern Luzon island, to help villagers whose homes had been flooded, said Lontoc, adding there have been no deaths reported so far in Nueva Ecija's flooding. Erwin Jacinto, a 37-year-old resident of Nueva Ecija's Santa Rosa town, said the flooding turned his farmland into "nothing but mud." Jacinto spoke from the top of a high-level bridge that juts out from his flooded town and where dozens of farm villagers like him stayed in the open overnight with their families, and their pigs and chickens. Koppu's winds knocked down trees and electric posts, leaving nine provinces without power. Authorities suspended dozens of flights and sea voyages, and many cities canceled classes on Monday. A teenager was pinned to death on Sunday by a fallen tree, which also injured four people and damaged three houses in metropolitan Manila. In Subic town, northwest of Manila, a concrete wall collapsed and killed a 62-year-old woman and injured her husband, officials said. President Benigno Aquino III and disaster-response agencies had warned that Koppu's rain and winds may potentially bring more damage with its slow speed. But government forecasters said that there was less heavy rain than expected initially in some areas, including in Manila, but that fierce winds lashed many regions. Koppu, Japanese for "cup," is the 12th storm to hit the Philippines this year. An average of 20 storms and typhoons each year batter the archipelago, one of the world's most disaster-prone countries. | |
| Updated: | Monday, 19 October, 2015 at 12:21 UTC |
| Description | |
| At
least six people were confirmed dead due to incidents caused by Typhoon
Lando over the weekend, according to reports reaching authorities. The
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which
is based in Quezon City, has reported three fatalities as of late Monday
afternoon - one in Quezon City due to an accident involving a fallen
tree, one in Benguet due to landslide, and one in Zambales due to a
collapsed wall. Meanwhile, the Regional Disaster Risk and Reduction
Management in Region III reported four fatalities, including the one in
Zambales, as of 6 p.m. Monday. The three other fatalities were two from
Nueva Ecija and one in Tarlac. The latest NDRRMC report said five were
injured while one was missing. "Para po sa ating casualties, may naitala
po tayo na tatlo po na namatay, lima pong injured and isa po ang
kasalukuyan na nawawala," Mina Marasigan, NDRRMC spokesperson, said in a
press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo. "Yung sa ating mga namatay na mga
biktima, isa po mula sa Zambales, isa [sa] Quezon City, at isa po mula
Benguet na ang dahilan po nito ay landslide, dun po sa ating injured ay
isa pa rin po sa Zambales, apat po sa Quezon City," she added. An
earlier NDRRMC report identified two of the fatalities as 14-year-old
Aron Castillo, who was pinned down by a fallen tree in Quezon City, and
62-year-old Benita Famanilay, who was pinned down by a collapsed wall in
Subic, Zambales. A report by the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera Autonomous Region identified the latest fatality as Fernando Laso Gumpad, 57, a resident of Bakun, Benguet. According to the report, the victim went to tend to his farm at around 8 a.m. on Sunday but failed to return home in the afternoon, prompting his wife and son to look for him. "At around 6 p.m. of the same day, his wife and son decided to follow him and saw a landslide near their farm. The wife and son suspected that the victim was buried so they subsequently grabbed a crowbar and grabhoe to dig. The victims lifeless body was reported via cellphone call at around 12:30 a.m. on October 19, 2015," it said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard said seven people died while two others were missing when a passenger banca capsized off Iloilo City on Sunday during the height of Typhoon Lando. Although reports like this indicate a higher death toll, Marasigan said NDRRMC only recorded three fatalities so far as reports need to undergo a stringent validation and confirmation process. "Katulad ng mga report na natatanggap natin mula sa ating ahensya, ito ay dumadaan pa sa confirmation at validation. Di tayo nagre-rely lang sa mga nakukuha natin mula sa social media at sa mga initial reports na binibigay. Ang mahalaga kasi dito ay may body count, may identification, at maitatala nating related nga ito sa bagyo," she said. Typhoon Lando has affected a total of 283,486 individuals in Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, Calabarzon (Calamba, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) and the CAR. Of this number, 132, 621 individuals are staying with their families. Marasigan said the NDRRMC is continuously monitoring the rise of water in the Ambuklao, Binga and Magat Dams. A total of 36 road sections and 18 bridges, meanwhile, have been rendered impassable due to floods and possible landslides. | |
| Updated: | Monday, 19 October, 2015 at 14:29 UTC |
| Description | |
| Army, police and civilian volunteers rushed Monday to rescue hundreds of villagers trapped in their flooded homes and on rooftops in a northern Philippine province battered by slow-moving Typhoon Koppu, officials said. The typhoon blew ashore into northeastern Aurora province early Sunday, leaving at least 11 dead, forcing more than 65,000 villagers from their homes, and leaving nine provinces without electricity. By Monday afternoon, Koppu had weakened into a tropical storm over Ilocos Norte province with winds of 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 135 kph (84 mph). Several of the affected provinces, led by Nueva Ecija, were inundated by floods that swelled rivers and cascaded down mountains, trapping villagers in their homes, said Nigel Lontoc of the Office of Civil Defense. "There were people who got trapped by the flood on their roofs, some were rescued already," Vice Mayor Henry Velarde of Nueva Ecija's Jaen town told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that about 80 percent of 27 villages in his farming town of more than 45,000 people were inundated by flood. When a flooded river swamped the villages, residents scrambled to safety but many failed to save their poultry and farm animals. Out of more than 5,000 ducks, for example, only about 1,000 were saved and many rice crops ready to be harvested in a few weeks turned into a muddy waste, he said. "Our rice farms looked like it was ran over by a giant flat iron," Velarde said. "All the rice stalks were flattened in one direction." Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers have converged on Nueva Ecija, a landlocked, rice-growing province in the heart of Luzon island, to help villagers whose homes had been flooded, said Lontoc. | |
| Updated: | Tuesday, 20 October, 2015 at 03:31 UTC |
| Description | |
| Koppu weakened from typhoon to tropical storm even as some areas of northern Philippines remained flooded, and authorities warned flooding and landslides could worsen. As of 4 a.m., local time Tuesday, Koppu's winds slowed to 95 kilometers per hour (59 mph) as its center left the main Philippine island of Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. Its winds were as strong as 185 kph (115 mph) just before hitting land Sunday. Aside from weakening, it is now forecast to turn east into the Pacific Ocean in the next few days, sparing Taiwan, the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicted. Sixteen people were dead and more than 60,000 forced to evacuate, Agence France-Presse reported. The worst single incident reported so far was the drowning of seven people on a ferry that capsized off the island of Guimaras Sunday. The casualty report may climb as information comes in from remote areas, or areas where transport and communication have been cut off. Authorities warned people in evacuation centers not to return to their homes, saying even if rains have abated, the water they left in the mountains will flow down for days, ABS-CBN News said. Rice and other crops were destroyed, and farm animals were killed by the wind, rains and floods, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and other media reported. The typhoon hit regions considered among the country's biggest sources of rice, the country's staple. That could revive inflation, which is low, or even increase world prices. The Philippines is one of the world's biggest importers of the grain. | |
UPDATE: 1 a.m. EDT -- The death toll from Koppu rose to 22 as more reports came in from northern Philippines, Agence France-Presse reported.
Meanwhile, the one-time supertyphoon, now classified as a tropical storm, weakened further, with winds of 85 kilometers per hour, according to the national weather agency.
Read More Here
Meanwhile, the one-time supertyphoon, now classified as a tropical storm, weakened further, with winds of 85 kilometers per hour, according to the national weather agency.
Read More Here
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