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Typhoon Hagupit



Typhoon Hagupit: at least three dead and a million evacuated in Philippines









Category 3 Hagupit – or ‘Ruby’ to locals – is the most powerful storm to hit disaster-prone south-east Asian nation this year
























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Typhoon Hagupit hits the Philippines. Source: Reuters



Kate Hodal


Sunday 7 December 2014 10.49 EST







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At least three people have been killed and over a million evacuated after typhoon Hagupit tore into the Philippines this weekend, causing landslides, pummelling houses and stirring up gusts of 170kph (106mph) across the country’s central islands.
But the disaster-prone nation – which sees up to 20 typhoons a year – was spared from the extreme death and devastation of last year’s typhoon Haiyan, which killed over 6,000 people and displaced around 4 million, thanks to evacuation and national preparedness strategies that saw aid and government agencies deliver provisions and supplies ahead of the storm.
Hagupit, which is named “Ruby” in the Philippines, was the most powerful storm to hit the country this year. A category 3 typhoon when it made landfall on eastern Samar island on Saturday night – the same place last year’s typhoon Haiyan first struck – Hagupit is thought to have destroyed around 80% of all the homes along some coastal areas, where it also washed away rice crops, Reuters reported.
One person in Dolores, eastern Samar was killed by a falling coconut tree, while two others suffered hypothermia and died on Panay island on Saturday. The storm made a second landfall early Sunday and was expected to leave the Philippines’ vicinity by Wednesday or Thursday.
Whereas the national government was criticised for its slow relief and debris-clearance efforts after Haiyan, this year military troops were on hand to help clear roads and the air force was on standby to help deliver aid or participate in rescue missions ahead of time, local media reported.



Around 1.2 million people were evacuated to 1,500 centres across the central Philippines in advance of the storm. One evacuation centre on Samar island made headlines after 23-year-old Marilyn Ramonolos safely delivered a baby without power or a doctor, later naming her Ruby.
Jo Ignacio, emergency coordinator for the aid arm of the Filipino church, Caritas Philippines, said last year’s typhoon had created anxiety about what to expect from future storms, amid fears survivors would be left reeling as they had been last year.
“But Hagupit coming so soon after typhoon Haiyan hasn’t defeated us,” he said. “We Filipinos have a deep sense of supporting each other and taking care of vulnerable people. Our aim is to survive.”
Relief agencies had stockpiled dry goods, bottled water, tarpaulins and blankets in preparation for the storm, with various aid groups on standby in location to help assess damage and assist in relief efforts.
Oxfam’s Philippines director said the government had learned its lessons from Haiyan in terms of disaster preparedness and as a result, had been communicating with the public about what to expect and where to go.



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A typhoon victim in the Philippines pleads for help in the town of Taft, Samar island, after typhoon Hagupit knocked out power and flattened houses.
Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA


“The government has been issuing messages continuously around wind speeds and rainfall but also around storm surges and the likely areas and the likely heights, and that has helped people prepare better for such a typhoon,” Justin Morgan told the Guardian. A dozen countries have already pledged assistance to help the Philippines recover from the damage, among them the US, the UK, Australia, China and Japan.
In an address prior to the storm’s first landfall Saturday, President Benigno Aquino III asked the nation to stay focussed and help one another despite their fatigue from natural disasters.
“All of us here were looking forward to having a quiet Christmas this year, to taking a breather and finding the time to recharge for 2015,” he said. We must do our utmost – leave nothing to chance, improve where we can, and match what we have done so well in the past.”
This year’s preparations made a huge difference in how people approached the typhoon warnings, as aid agencies reported “virtual parades” of people leaving their homes for evacuation centres, by foot, car and tricycle.
As a result, said Rhea Estuna, 29, “there were no bodies scattered on the ground, no big mounds of debris,” when she looked out the window Sunday of her evacuation centre in Tacloban, expecting to see the worst.
“Thanks to God, this typhoon wasn’t as violent.”
Hagupit is expected to make a third landfall on Sibuyan island, population 56,000, with gusts up to 170kph and a storm surge as high as 3m, early on Monday morning.



Topics



Typhoon Hagupit




Philippines
(World news)




Natural disasters and extreme weather




Philippines
(Weather)




Asia



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Typhoon Haiyan








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