Residents walking along the shore as a barge is seen swept ashore due to Tropical Storm Yagi in Rosario, Cavite Province, on Sept 3, 2024. - AFP
MANILA: Storm Yagi killed at least 13 people in the Philippines and forced thousands to flee to safer ground, and is now slowly heading for mainland China with high winds and squally rains.
Schools and government offices in Manila and nearby provinces remain shut for a second straight day on Tuesday (Sept 3). Foreign-currency trading that was suspended Monday afternoon resumed. Stock trading has been uninterrupted.
Still, while the storm is moving away from the Philippines, the southwest monsoon will continue to bring heavy to intense rains to Metro Manila and a clutch of provinces, its weather bureau Pagasa said in an 11am report.
At least seven people died in Antipolo City, east of Metro Manila, as rains triggered flash floods and landslides, the police said. Four others were killed in the Bicol region and central Visayas because of drowning or electrocution. One person died in central Visayas and another in Pililla town in Rizal province.
Rescuers are searching for four people believed to have been swept away by floods in Antipolo, the state-owned People’s Television Network said on X.
The tropical cyclone is unlikely to come within 600km of Hong Kong, but the city’s Observatory said it will issue the Standby Signal No. 1 between 5pm and 8pm today.
The storm is moving westward at 25km per hour, packing maximum winds of 85kph and gusts up to 105kph, according to Pagasa. It expects Yagi to reach typhoon category on Thursday and peak intensity by late Friday or early Saturday before making landfall in China. Hainan island and Vietnam are along Yagi’s path, according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The disruptions in the Philippines come barely a week after heavy monsoon rains flooded parts of Metro Manila and other areas of the country. In July, more than 30 people died as Typhoon Gaemi brought floods and landslides.
The orange rainfall warning, the second highest in a three-level alert system, remains hoisted in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Two dozen domestic flights have been canceled on Tuesday, the airport authority said.
The South-East Asian nation is one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world, where about 20 cyclones pass through each year, causing deaths and damage to agriculture, homes and infrastructure.
In 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,300 in the South-East Asian nation. - Bloomberg
