Philippines evacuates again

Oct 20, 2009

		Residents use an elevated footbridge built one very road intersection on a flooded street as passengers riding on makeshift outrigger pass below. -- PHOTO: AP

MANILA - THE Philippines began evacuating thousands of people in northern areas prone to floods and landslides on Tuesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that has gained strength over the Pacific, officials said.

DAMAGES SUSTAINED The Philippines is still recovering from two recent typhoons - Ketsana and Parma - which brought record-high rainfall that flooded the capital Manila and large swathes of farmland in northern provinces. More than 850 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. ... more

Typhoon Lupit, which means 'fierce' in Filipino, was expected to make landfall around the far northern tip of the Luzon region by Thursday and dump more rain on typhoon-weary provinces, said Prisco Nilo, head of the weather bureau. Lupit, a category 4 typhoon with centre winds of 195 kmh and with gusts of up to 230 kmh, was 890 km east of northern Cagayan province, the weather bureau said.
Thousands of residents in northern coastal and mountain areas had started to move to safer areas, said Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Torres, spokesman for the national disaster agency.
'Our troops in the field are assisting local government units in the pre-emptive evacuation of disaster-prone areas in the north,' Lt-Col Torres told reporters.
The Philippine air force had also airlifted food, water and medicine to remote areas. -- REUTERS