For the second day in a row, Tropical Storm Yagi hit the Philippines on Monday, September 2, causing flooding and landslides and killing at least four people, according to the government.
The eastern city of Naga is one of the worst hit by the storm that hit its coast on Sunday. Emergency services say two people have died, including a 9-month-old baby who drowned when the waters rose.
“In some places the water level was above our heads”Joshua Tuazon, an employee of the city’s public security office, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Hundreds” The residents were saved, he added.
300 people in evacuation camps
As of Monday, more than 300 people were still in evacuation camps. In this city of 210,000 inhabitants, local officials say the high tide prevented the water from draining away quickly.
Yagi made landfall on the northern coast of the main island of Luzon on Monday morning, with winds remaining at 5 km/h, according to the national weather agency. Later today, the storm is expected to trigger landslides in the coastal province of Isabela, with four towns and about 33,000 people in its path.
Local authorities have been asked to prepare communities to evacuate areas prone to flooding, the head of the province’s emergency services, Constante Foronda, told AFP.
As a precaution, schools and administrative offices in the capital Manila were closed for the day and ferry transport in affected areas was suspended, while 29 domestic flights were cancelled due to bad weather.
Every year, the Philippines and its surrounding waters experience around 20 storms and typhoons, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing dozens of people.
