Super typhoon Haima hits Philippines

Friday, 21/10/2016 16:39
Powerful typhoon Haima has hit the northeastern Philippine coast, destroying houses, displacing tens of thousands and threatening millions of residents.

Typhoon Haima hits the Philippines (Photo: AFP)

Haima has a weather band of 800km that puts more than 10 million people across the northern parts of the Philippines' main island of Luzon within its reach, according to the government's disaster risk management agency.

Residents of the northern and eastern parts of the main island of Luzon were put on alert: Evacuations were ordered, some flights were cancelled and the Philippine Coast Guard banned sea travel and fishing.

President Rodrigo Duterte said all possible preparations had been made for Haima, with tens of thousands of people evacuated, but he still struck an ominous tone.

“We only pray we be spared the destruction such as the previous times, which brought agony and suffering,” Duterte said in Beijing, during a state visit. “But we are ready. Everything has been deployed.”

An average of 20 typhoons batter the Philippines every year.

Haima was the second typhoon to hit the Philippines in less than a week, lashing the country with torrential rain and raging winds./.

 

Compiled by BTA

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