Nearly a million inhabitants were evacuated this Saturday, October 31 in the Philippines, as super-typhoon Goni, this year's most powerful, heads towards the country, authorities fearing
"destructive"
winds
and flooding .
A few hours before making landfall, Goni strengthened further, moving into the super-typhoon category.
It is expected to reach Catanduanes Island on Sunday morning with winds of up to 215 km / h, before crossing the country's main island, Luzon, the weather agency warned.
To read also: Typhoon, hurricane, cyclone?
Four graphics to understand
The situation in Catanduanes is
"extremely dangerous"
, according to the latest forecasts from the agency, which fears a rise in sea level of up to three meters and
"catastrophic damage due to the wind"
in the provinces of Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Albay.
Goni arrives a week after Molave, which affected the same region, killing 22 people and flooding a large agricultural region before continuing on its way to Vietnam.
Read also: In the Philippines, Typhoon Molave kills three and leaves twelve
"We are expecting storm surges, and we are monitoring Mayon and Taal volcanoes for possible volcanic mudslides,"
ABS-CBN response agency spokesperson Mark Timbal told ABS-CBN television. to natural disasters.
"Strong winds and heavy rains" expected could cause flooding and landslides en masse in this region of 20 million inhabitants, warned the weather services.
More than 7,300 dead in 2013
Civil Defense chief Ricardo Jalad said
“nearly a million”
people had left their homes in the Bicol region, which includes the southern part of Luzon Island and Catanduanes Island.
Authorities sent vehicles, equipment and rescue teams to risk areas on Saturday in anticipation of the super-typhoon.
Schools empty since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic serve as emergency accommodation centers for evacuees, as well as gyms and government-run evacuation centers.
"The evacuation of threatened populations is made even more difficult this year because of the Covid-19"
, the spokesperson for the regional civil defense services, Alexis Naz, told AFP.
The schools, closed because of the virus, will serve as a refuge, but where we could normally have put 16 people per room, the number will be limited to 5 per room due to the pandemic, he explained.
The Philippines is affected by an average of twenty tropical storms and typhoons each year, which destroy crops, fragile homes and infrastructure, keeping entire populations in permanent poverty.
The worst in recent history was Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which killed more than 7,300 people, especially in the central town of Tacloban submerged by giant waves.
