Over 1,000 flee as typhoon threatens northern Philippines

Manila, May 10: More than 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes as Typhoon Noul approached the northern Philippines, threatening flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like storm surges, government agencies warned today. The storm’s movement has slowed slightly but it has also strengthened to pack gusts of 205 kilometres per hour and is still expected to hit the northern edge of the main island of Luzon by afternoon or evening, according to Esperanza Cayanan, chief of the government’s weather monitoring division.As of this morning, it was about 140 kilometres northeast of the northern province of Cagayan, which is expected to feel the brunt of the typhoon’s fury later in the day, she added. Over 1,200 people have already been pre-emptively evacuated from the areas expected to be affected by Noul, said Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the government’s national disaster monitoring council. “There are areas which can have landslides. There are areas which can have flash floods. There are coastal areas which can be hit by storm surges as high as 1.5 metres,” she said.Manila, May 10: More than 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes as Typhoon Noul approached the northern Philippines, threatening flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like storm surges, government agencies warned today. The storm’s movement has slowed slightly but it has also strengthened to pack gusts of 205 kilometres per hour and is still expected to hit the northern edge of the main island of Luzon by afternoon or evening, according to Esperanza Cayanan, chief of the government’s weather monitoring division.