Super typhoon hits Philippines hard
Storm has sustained winds of 140 mph, with gusts to 195.
Super Typhoon Haima slammed into the northeastern Philippine coast late Wednesday with ferocious winds and rain that rekindled memories of the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Haima, with sustained winds of 140 mph and gusts of up to 195 mph, made landfall at Penablanca town in Cagayan province shortly before midnight, weather officials said. Many villages lost power, and the winds tore tin roofs off houses.
“We can’t go out because the wind is so intense, trees are being forced down,” Councilor Elisa Arugay told DZMM radio from Camasi village in Penablanca.
After Cagayan, Haima was forecast to blow across the mountainous province of Apayao and then lash Ilocos Norte province before exiting into the South China Sea this morning.
The government’s weather agency raised the storm warning to the highest level in six northern provinces, which meant that powerful winds could inflict “very heavy to widespread damage” and whip up storm surges of up to 16 feet, enough to engulf shanties in many rural communities.
“We are possibly dealing with a typhoon that is even stronger than Typhoon Yolanda,” said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, referring to the local name for Haiyan. “We must, therefore, brace ourselves for the possible effects of a typhoon of this magnitude.”
Many of the provinces are still recovering from powerful Typhoon Sarika, which left at least two people dead and displaced tens of thousands of villagers last weekend. The region was spared a major disaster due in part to the storm’s speedy exit, officials said.
In Beijing, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged people in the typhoon’s path to heed orders by disaster agencies, including abandoning coastal communities prone to storm surges. Duterte is on a state visit to China and is to fly home Friday.
“We only pray that we be spared destruction such as in the previous past which brought agony and suffering to our people, but we are ready,” Duterte said at a news conference.
A massive evacuation was underway in the northern provinces.