Roel Montesa, a disaster official on Leyte Island, said earlier that evacuations were “ongoing in Palo and Tanauan”, naming two of the towns hardest hit by storm surges in 2013, when Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people there.
Thousands of residents have also been evacuated since Sunday on neighbouring Samar island, where three-metre (10-foot) surges are predicted, according to civil defence official Randy Nicart.
“Some local governments are resorting to forced evacuations,” he said.
MORE STORMS EXPECTED
As of 8pm, “close to 156,000 individuals” had been preemptively evacuated, Office of Civil Defence deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro told a press briefing, adding landfall was expected some time after midnight.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking disaster-prone areas where millions live in poverty.
With Kalmaegi, the archipelago country has already reached that average, state weather service specialist Charmaine Varilla told AFP, adding that at least “three to five more” storms could be expected by December’s end.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/philippines-typhoon-kalmaegi-thousands-evacuated-leyte-island-5441866
