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Super typhoon Ragasa forces mass evacuations in Asia
More than 10,000 people sought refuge in schools and evacuation centers in the Philippines on Monday as super typhoon Ragasa unleashed torrential rains and violent winds across the northern regions of the country and southern Taiwan.
According to the national weather agency, wind gusts reached 265 km/h by midday as the storm made landfall on the sparsely populated Babuyan Islands, around 740 kilometers south of Taiwan in the Luzon Strait. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that all government agencies were on high alert and ready to deploy assistance “anytime and anywhere” if necessary.
In Taiwan, meteorological services warned of “extremely heavy rainfall” in the island’s eastern areas. Evacuations were carried out in mountainous regions near Pingtung in the south. “Our greatest concern is that damage could be similar to what we experienced with typhoon Koinu two years ago,” said James Wu, a local firefighter, recalling widespread power outages and damaged homes.
Schools and government offices were closed in Manila and 29 other provinces in anticipation of severe weather. Authorities also warned of “serious flooding and landslides” in northern Luzon. The disaster comes as the Philippines grapples with public anger over corruption scandals linked to poorly built or unfinished flood-control projects.
Each year, about 20 tropical storms and typhoons strike or pass near the Philippines, with the poorest communities often bearing the heaviest losses.