Typhoon Noru kills five in Philippines
BULACAN: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos jun conducted an aerial survey of damage yesterday brought by Typhoon Noru, which left heavy flooding across several northern provinces as authorities rushed to get aid to thousands of evacuees.
Five rescue workers were killed in Bulacan province, its Governor Daniel Fernando told DZMM radio, while residents there were seen wading through waistdeep waters and others stranded on rooftops.
Floods submerged swathes of farmland and communities in the north, images shared by the president’s office showed, after the category 3 typhoon dumped heavy rains and brought strong winds after making landfall at the weekend.
The stock market, government offices and schools were closed yesterday as authorities raced to deal with the aftermath of the typhoon, which has weakened since passing through the Philippines and was headed over the South China Sea toward Vietnam.
Tropical Storm Ian is barrelling toward western Cuba, where it is expected to soak the island with heavy rain and trigger storm surges as it turns into a hurricane.
Ian began rapidly late on Sunday (local time), moving northwestward about 917km southeast of the western tip of Cuba, with sustained winds of 96kmh, the USbased National Hurricane Centre said.
The Cuban Government has issued a hurricane warning for the provinces of Isla de Juventud, Pinar del Rio and Artemisa, evacuated tourists and workers from popular destinations on the island’s southwestern coast and called fisherman back to harbour. — Reuters/AAP