PHILIPPINES-TYPHOON/EVACUEES Coastal residents flee, fearing storm surge from Hagupit

Record ID: 734995

  • Title: PHILIPPINES-TYPHOON/EVACUEES Coastal residents flee, fearing storm surge from Hagupit
  • Date: 8th December 2014
  • Summary: ATIMONAN TOWN, QUEZON PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES (DECEMBER 8, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WAVES HITTING SEAWALL VARIOUS OF TREES ALONG SHORE BEING HIT BY STRONG WINDS AND RAIN FISHERMAN DANILO CORTEZ REMOVING DEBRIS SURROUNDING HIS BOAT CORTEZ WALKING INSIDE HIS BOAT (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) FISHERMAN, DANILO CORTEZ, SAYING: "We'll keep getting a feel of the situation. We'll only leave once this gets really strong." CAR DRIVING ALONG A COASTAL ROAD COCONUT TREE FALLEN ACROSS ROAD ROAD WORKER ON LADDER PREPARING TO REMOVE COCONUT TREE JEEPNEY DRIVING UNDER COCONUT TREE MAN WALKING ON ROAD BEING BATTERED BY WIND AND RAIN POLICE PATROL CAR DRIVING EXTERIOR OF SCHOOL BEING USED AS EVACUATION CENTRE VARIOUS OF EVACUEES IN EVACUATION CENTRE BOY STANDING NEXT TO EVACUEE BELONGINGS INSIDE EVACUATION CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) EVACUEE VIRGINIA DACUNO SAYING: "The waves were huge. We might get washed away." MOTHER CARRYING BABY (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) EVACUEE ENRIQUITA AREVALO "We're safe and secure here. If we stayed near the coastline, the waters might swell. We're dead if that happens." MOTHER FEEDING BOY INTERIOR OF EVACUATION CENTRE
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEYZR7T8HXYBKMF2OFHUIC7MFT
  • Story Text: A tropical storm continued to slam sections of the central Philippines with violent winds and torrential rain on Monday (December 8), as the typhoon crept through a region still recovering from the devastation of a super-storm 13 months ago.
    While homes in the affected areas were destroyed by typhoon Hagupit, however, the nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief as a massive evacuation plan appeared to minimise fatalities.
    The death toll from typhoon Hagupit stood at four on Monday, as over a million people escaped the wrath of the Category 3 storm in evacuation centres across the centre of the country, although hundreds of homes were flattened.
    A year after a Category 5 super typhoon travelling roughly the same path left more than 7,000 people dead or missing in the Philippines, authorities took no chances and evacuated entire towns and villages into over 1,500 evacuation centres on Friday and Saturday.
    Hagupit made third landfall at the central Marinduque island on Monday noon.
    In the coastal town of Atimonan in Quezon province, north of Marinduque, strong gusts brought large waves that battered seawalls.
    Despite the storm warning, some residents said they were confident of their safety.
    "We'll keep getting a feel of the situation. We'll only leave once this gets really strong," fisherman Danilo Cortez told Reuters TV.
    Some stayed in temporary shelters, fearing large swells, even as the storm has weakened considerably since its initial landfall on Saturday (December 6) evening.
    "The waves were huge. We might get washed away," said evacuee Virginia Dacuno.
    "We're safe and secure here. If we stayed near the coastline, the waters might swell," said another evacuee Enriquita Arevalo. "We're dead if that happens."
    The governor of Quezon province said residents living in flood-prone areas were already told to move to evacuation centres.
    People in storm-hit areas in the central Philippines could not yet return to their homes due to floods, officials said. Large swathes of Samar and Leyte provinces still have not power and communications.
    Hagupit was crawling west northwest at 10 kph (6 mph) from Marinduque towards Oriental Mindoro province on Monday, with winds of up to 105 kph (65 mph) near the centre and gusts of up to 135 kph (84 kph), the PAGASA weather bureau said.
    The storm is expected to exit the Philippines by Thursday, PAGASA added.
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