Thousands flee Philippine coast as storm approaches

MANILA, Philippines: Thousands of residents of the Philippines left their homes along the Pacific coast Saturday as weather experts warned of coastal flooding ahead of Tropical Storm Fengshen’s landfall.

The storm was forecast to hit Catanduanes, an impoverished island of 270,000 people, late Saturday with gusts of up to 90 kilometres (56 miles) an hour, the government weather service said.

A second landfall is expected on the main island of Luzon on Sunday morning.

Fengshen will bring heavy rainfall, along with a “minimal to moderate risk” of coastal flooding from 1-2 metre (3-6 foot) waves being pushed ashore by the disturbance, the government weather service said.

Nearly 17,000 residents of the eastern province of Albay, along with more than 9,000 in nearby Catanduanes island moved to safer ground, local disaster officials said.

The evacuations are a well-rehearsed routine in a region that is often the first major landmass struck by cyclones that form in the western Pacific Ocean.

The Catanduanes provincial government ordered local officials to “activate their respective evacuation plans” for residents of “high-risk areas” including the coast, low-lying communities and landslide-prone slopes, rescue official Gerry Rubio told AFP.

The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, which routinely strike areas where millions of people live in poverty.

Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.

Fengshen comes as the country reels from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks.