Hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, several hundred flight cancellations … East Asia is preparing for the passage of the Super Typhon Ragasa, which makes you blow up strong winds in the North of the Philippines on Monday while heading south of China.
The typhoon must reach from Tuesday evening the south of China, where the Megapol of Shenzhen plans to evacuate 400,000 people, while the Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific anticipates more than 500 abolitions of theft.
Gusts up to 295 km/h!
Monday afternoon, Ragasa crosses the Strait of Luçon, between the south of Taiwan and the North of the Philippines. At 2:00 p.m. (8:00 a.m. Swiss time), sustained winds up to 215 km/h were recorded in the heart of the storm which evolves west, with gusts up to 295 km/h, according to the Philippin Meteorological Service. The typhoon touched earth on the island of Calayan around 3:00 p.m. (9:00 am Swiss time), according to the same source.
“I woke up because of the violent wind. He struck the windows and made a noise similar to a walking machine, “says Tirso Tugagao, a resident of Aparri, a coastal city in the province of Cagayan (North).
“Worse”
Rueli Rapsing, provincial disaster management manager, told AFP to be ready for “worst” with his team.
More than 10,000 inhabitants were evacuated to the country, and government schools and buildings closed on Monday in the Manila region and 29 other provinces. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Facebook that all government agencies were “on alert to provide help anywhere and anytime” if necessary.
Schools and government offices were closed in the Metropolis of Manila on Monday and in 29 Philippine provinces, in anticipation of heavy rain. “Serious floods and landslides” are expected in the north of the main island of Luçon, warned the government’s meteorological specialist John Grender Almario on Sunday.
Further north, in Taiwan, the weather services warned against an extremely torrential rainy risk in the east of the island.
Evacuations take place in mountainous areas near Pingtung (South), James Wu, local firefighters officer, told AFP. “What worries us the most is that the damage could be similar to those caused by Typhon Koinu two years ago,” he added. This typhoon had caused the collapse of electric poles and torn off from sheet metal roofs.
We prepare in China
In southern China, the authorities have already taken measures before the typhoon arrived from Tuesday evening.
The Emergency Services of the Chinese Megapolus of Shenzhen have announced plan to evacuate some 400,000 people residing “in the low and by the sea areas”.
Many cities in the province of Guangdong, where Shenzhen is located, have announced cancellation of courses in schools, but also the suspension of public transport due to the storm.
Meteorological services in the adjoining Hong Kong region anticipate “strong winds” and “stormy” on Wednesday. “The weather conditions will be unfavorable, with frequent violent showers and a strong storm wave,” they added.
On the air transport side, the Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific announced that it planned to remove “more than 500 flights” between Tuesday evening and Thursday.
