Philippines: Thousands evacuated as super Typhoon Rai intensifies before making landfall

Tens of thousands of people from their homes in the central and southern Philippines have been evacuated as super Typhoon Rai intensifies before making landfall on Thursday afternoon. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) predicted extremely devastating typhoon-force winds in several areas of the country within the next 12 hours, as per the report of Al Jazeera.

PAGASA has also recommended sailors stay in port or seek shelter because the sea conditions are risky for all sorts of maritime boats. The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has designated Rai as a super typhoon. This is the Philippines' 15th typhoon of the year. The national disaster mitigation organisation, NDRRMC, has designated eight regions in the country as having the highest degree of emergency preparedness and response protocol, according to Al Jazeera. More than 30 million people live in the eight regions located in the central and southern groups of islands in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. Several of these areas have been urged to evacuate ahead of time. Work and online classes have been suspended in certain locations.

Statewide COVID-19 vaccination effort has also been halted

The statewide COVID-19 vaccination effort has also been halted in several areas of the country due to the storm. The evacuations may further hamper the country's COVID response as thousands of displaced citizens crowd shelters, making it impossible to maintain social distance requirements. According to DZMM radio, Governor Ben Evardone of the Visayan province of Eastern Samar stated that almost 30,000 people have been evacuated as of Thursday morning. Around 17,000 people were evacuated from various parts of Eastern Visayas.

Surigao del Norte, in Mindanao island, has seen 51,000 residents evacuated, according to the provincial disaster mitigation agency. The local authorities suggest that emergency personnel in Tandag, a southern coastal city with a population of more than 62,000, evacuated 3,668 families as early as Wednesday afternoon.

The national government has placed on standby food and non-food supplies

NDRRMC stated that the national government has placed on standby food and non-food supplies worth an estimated $6.6 million, according to Al Jazeera. Every year, the Philippines is plagued by over a dozen fatal typhoons. Typhoon Kompasu, which struck the northern and western sections of the country in October, killed at least 11 people and left seven others missing.

Image: AP