New storm bears down on the Philippines after Typhoon Usagi wrecked havoc

Another vulnerable large wind is barrelling towards nan Philippines, threatening an area wherever dozens of group were killed by flash floods and landslides conscionable weeks ago, nan upwind work said.

Typhoon Usagi blew retired of nan archipelago federation connected Friday arsenic rescuers worked to scope residents stranded connected rooftops successful bluish Luzon island, wherever herds of livestock were devastated.

Thousands of group were displaced by Usagi, nan 5th awesome large wind to deed nan state successful little than a month.

It weakened arsenic it headed towards Taiwan, aft blowing distant houses successful its path.

The caller activity of disasters has killed astatine slightest 159 group and prompted nan United Nations to petition $32.9m successful assistance for nan worst-affected regions.

On Thursday, flash floods caused by Usagi struck 10 mostly evacuated villages astir nan municipality of Gonzaga successful Cagayan province, section rescue charismatic Edward Gaspar told nan AFP news agency.

“We rescued a number of group who had refused to move to nan shelters and sewage trapped connected their rooftops,” Gaspar said.

Trees uprooted by flooding damaged a awesome span successful Gonzaga, isolating adjacent Santa Ana, a coastal municipality of astir 36,000 people, Cagayan officials said.

“Most evacuees person returned home, but we held backmost immoderate of them. We person to cheque first if their houses are still safe for habitation,” Bonifacio Espiritu, operations main of nan civilian defence agency successful Cagayan, told AFP.

By early Friday, Usagi was complete nan Luzon Strait pinch a reduced spot of 120km/h (75mph) arsenic it headed towards confederate Taiwan, wherever authorities downgraded it to a tropical storm.

But nan streak of convulsive upwind was forecast to proceed successful nan cardinal Philippines, wherever Tropical Storm Man-yi is group to scope coastal waters by Sunday.

The upwind work said it could perchance onslaught astatine aliases adjacent nan heavy populated capital, Manila.

According to a UN assessment, nan past month’s storms damaged aliases destroyed 207,000 houses, pinch 700,000 group forced to activity impermanent shelter.

Many families were without essentials specified arsenic sleeping mats, hygiene kits and cooking supplies, and had constricted entree to safe drinking water.

Thousands of hectares of farmland were destroyed and persistent flooding was apt to hold replanting efforts and worsen nutrient proviso problems, nan study added.

About 20 large storms and typhoons deed nan Southeast Asian federation aliases its surrounding waters each year, sidesplitting dozens of group and keeping millions successful enduring poverty, but it is different for aggregate specified upwind events to return spot successful a mini window.