Filipinos protest outside a police station in Manila on Monday, calling for the release of protesters detained Sunday at a demonstration against government corruption, which they blame for a severe lack of flood control infrastructure that has resulted in some residents being inundated year-round. Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA
Sept. 22 (UPI) — The Philippines was bracing for “catastrophic” damage Monday from a supertyphoon that came ashore in the far north of the country, packing winds of more than 140 mph., and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.
The country’s weather bureau said typhoon Ragasa posed a “high risk of life-threatening storm surge” in excess of 10 feet with authorities warning of extensive damage to property and infrastructure from flooding and landslides, as well as the wind.
Ragasa came ashore in the remote Batanes or Babuyan islands, about 60 miles off the northern coast of Luzon, the main island of the Philippine archipelago, bringing down power lines in Abra and Cagayan pronvinces on the mainland.
In Manila and across large areas of the country, schools and government offices were shut to reduce the risks to human health and safety from the supertyphoon, which is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.
The impact in regions as far away as the Visayas and Mindanao, 800 miles to the south, was due to it boosting the effect of a potent southwest monsoon that had already brought weeks of flooding to the central and southern Philippines.
Taiwan was also impacted, with heavy rains prompting authorities to evacuate hundreds of residents in Hualien, a county on the eastern coast.
The typhoon was expected to track northwestwards, bypassing Taiwan, headed for southern China, where authorities in Guangdong Province were warning of a “catastrophic, large-scale disaster” in the coming days.
The typhoon is not expected to come ashore from the South China Sea until Wednesday, but residents have been advised of heavy rains and strong winds as early as Tuesday with the city of Shenzhen planning a massive operation to move 400,000 people out of harm’s way.
Train services in the province have already halted operations.
To the south in Hong Kong, authorities were warning residents of a “rapid deterioration” of the weather on Tuesday, although the Education Department was still weighing a decision on whether to close schools.
Hong Kong International Airport was preparing for a 36-hour period of full flight cancellations, the longest ever such suspension of civil aviation, due to go into effect at 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday through 6 a.m. Thursday.
Cathay Pacific, the territory’s main carrier, said it expected to cancel about 500 flights while Hongkong Airlines cancelled at least 93 through Thursday, according to the carrier’s website.