Thousands evacuated as typhoon bears down on Philippines

Thousands of people were evacuated in the Philippines' coastal provinces on Monday ahead of a typhoon set to make landfall in the region hit by the country's deadliest storms.

Typhoon Kalmaegi is approaching. collision course According to national weather service.

“Evacuations continue in Palo and Tanauan,” said Leyte disaster management official Roel Montesa, naming the two cities hardest hit by the disaster. storm surges in 2013, when Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people.

Thousands of residents have also been evacuated since Sunday on the neighboring island of Samar, where three-meter (10-foot) waves are forecast, civil defense spokesman Randy Nicart said.

“Some local authorities resort to forced evacuationincluding the city of Guiuan, where the hurricane is likely to make landfall,” he said.

The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 hurricanes and typhoons each year, regularly hitting disaster-prone areas where millions of people live in poverty.

The archipelago country has already reached that average since Kalmaegi, government weather service specialist Charmaine Varilla told AFP, adding that at least “three to five” more storms could be expected by the end of December.

Governor Nilo Demeri, south of Leyte in the Dinagat Islands province, said 10,000 to 15,000 people had been proactively relocated to safer areas.

“We have been carrying out preventive evacuations for the last two days while there is time,” he told AFP.

Emergency services spokeswoman Joy Conales said residents of the town of Loreto in Dinagat were ordered to evacuate to higher ground.

The city has a one-story seawall designed to protect its center from large waves.

Scientists warn that storms are becoming more severe due to human-caused climate change.

Varilla said Tuesday that more cyclones typically accompany La Niña, a natural climate phenomenon that causes cooling. surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

In September, the Philippines was hit by two major storms, including Super Typhoon Ragasa, which toppled trees and roofs and killed 14 people in neighboring Taiwan.

© 2025 AFP