A resident rides on an old refrigerator to escape a flooded road caused by heavy rains from Tropical Storm Yagi, locally called Enteng, in Cainta, Rizal province, the Philippines, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. | Photo credit: AP
The storm triggered landslides and heavy rainfall that flooded several areas in the northern Philippines overnight into Monday (September 2, 2024), killing at least 14 people and forcing authorities to suspend school classes and government work in the densely populated capital region.
According to the weather bureau, Tropical Storm Yagi, locally called Enteng, made landfall in Casiguran town in the northeastern province of Aurora on Monday (September 2, 2024) afternoon and strengthened with sustained winds of 85 km (53 miles) per hour and gusts up to 105 km per hour (65 mph).
The storm, locally named Enteng, has picked up speed and is moving northwest at 20 kilometers per hour (12 mph) toward the country’s northernmost provinces. The AP’s weather bureau said it is forecast to strengthen further and possibly become a typhoon over the next two days before moving toward southern China.
At least 14 people were killed, most of them in landslides and drownings, officials said.
At least three people, including a pregnant woman, were killed when a landslide hit two small hilltop shanties in Antipolo town in Rizal province, west of the capital, on Monday (September 2, 2024). Four other villagers drowned in swollen rivers, Antipolo disaster-mitigation official Enrilo Bernardo Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone.
“The heavy rains caused the rivers to swell and a part of the hill collapsed,” Mr Bernardo said.
Four residents were killed in separate landslides in central Cebu City and northern Samar province, officials said. Three others died in the eastern city of Naga – two by drowning and one by electrocution.
Typhoon warnings were issued for a large portion of Luzon, the country’s most populous region, including metropolitan Manila, where schools at all levels and most government functions were suspended due to the storm.
A siren sounded at dawn along the crowded banks of the Marikina River on the eastern edge of the capital, warning thousands of residents to be ready to move to safety in case the river’s waters rise and flow due to heavy rains.
Coast guard personnel in the provinces of Cavite, south of Manila, and Northern Samar in the country’s central region used rubber boats and ropes to rescue and evacuate dozens of villagers trapped in waist- to chest-high floods, the coast guard said.
Sea travel was temporarily halted at several ports affected by the storm, stranding more than 3,300 ferry passengers and cargo crews, and many domestic flights were suspended due to the stormy weather.
The M/V Camilla – a training ship anchored near the Navotas Port in the capital – was hit by another vessel which went out of control due to strong waves. The Camilla’s bridge was damaged and it later caught fire, forcing its 18 cadets and crew members to abandon ship, the Philippine coast guard said.
The coast guard said a passing tugboat rescued 17 people who had abandoned ship and one person swam to safety.
Heavy rains have also caused water levels at the Ipo Dam in Bulacan province, north of Manila, to nearly spill over, prompting authorities to schedule a small release of water on Monday (September 2, 2024) that they say will not pose any threat to downstream villages.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and typhoons each year. The archipelago is located in the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” an area along the Pacific Ocean that is prone to many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, making this Southeast Asian country one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, destroyed entire villages, washed away ships and displaced more than 5 million people in the central Philippines.