“Goni is the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall” on record, said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist at Yale Climate Connections and co-founder of Weather Underground.
The previous record was held by super typhoons Meranti and Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2016 and 2013, respectively. Goni is the world’s third Category 5 storm this 12 months, it said on the Yale Climate Connections website.
Most of the deaths occurred in Albay and Catanduanes provinces south of Manila, with some carried away by rough waters, in accordance with the regional disaster risk monitoring agency.
Gov. Joseph Cua said at a briefing that greater than 65 percent of homes in Catanduanes, the province of 275,000 people where Goni made landfall, were damaged and power and telecommunications lines were still down.
Thirty-three airports, including Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, were cleared to resume flights at 10 a.m. Monday.
The storm damaged crops price 1.1 billion pesos ($23 million) and affected the livelihoods of 20,000 farmers, adding to the nearly 2 billion pesos in damage brought on by Typhoon Molave last week.
Despite Sunday’s devastation, early warning systems saved greater than 242,000 hectares of rice land, with an equivalent production of 1.07 million tonnes, the Department of Agriculture said in an announcement on Sunday.
“The pandemic has made the situation much more complicated, but we have prepared for this situation,” Gordon, president of the Philippine Red Cross, said in an announcement.
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Typhoon Molave brings death and severe damage as one in every of Vietnam’s worst storms in 20 years
Typhoon Molave brings death and severe damage as one in every of Vietnam’s worst storms in 20 years
Goni moved out of the primary island of Luzon on Sunday night. The weather bureau said one other storm, Atsani, could hit the Philippines later this week.
The cyclone comes days after Typhoon Molave struck the Southeast Asian nation, killing at the least 22 people and causing at the least 1.8 billion pesos in crop damage before reaching Vietnam. Goni follows the same path.
At least 10 people died when the powerful Typhoon Goni hit the Philippines
At least 10 people died when the powerful Typhoon Goni hit the Philippines
An average of 20 cyclones go through the disaster-prone Philippines annually, more likely to complicate the country’s fight against the coronavirus as 1000’s of individuals remain in tight evacuation spaces.
“Supertyphoon Goni brings back memories of the devastation caused by Supertyphoon Haiyan,” said Norly Mercado, 350.org regional director for Asia. “In Asia, we are no stranger to intense tropical storms, but we now face the dual threat of Covid-19 and climate change.”
“The damage is extensive,” Christopher Dy-Liacco Flores, former mayor of the town of Guinobatan in Albay, said via Facebook Messenger. The flood reached a depth of 16 feet.
“Bridges were washed away, flood protection structures destroyed. Electric pylons have fallen, roads have been destroyed and our agriculture has been ruined.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: 450,000 forced to flee superstorm
