The SUN HK : Weakened ‘Goni’ seen to bypass HK after deadly hit on Bicol region

By The SUN

Goni's aftermath in Buhi, Camarines Sur (photo by Mark Nazzarea)

Super Typhoon Goni (Philippine name: Rolly) which left a trail of death and destruction in the Bicol region on Sunday, has weakened into a tropical storm and is currently moving across the central part of the South China Sea.

Goni is forecast to move westwards and skirt around 800 km south of Hong Kong tonight, Nov 2, and tomorrow morning. Its direct threat to the territory is relatively low.

The Hong Kong Observatory said that at 5pm, the storm was about 840 km south-southeast of Hong Kong, plodding 18 kilometers per hour towards Vietnam with sustained winds of 75kph near the center.

Pindutin para sa detalye!

The powerful tropical depression, said to be the strongest this year, killed at least 16 people in the Philippines where it also devastated countless of homes and farmlands and closed the international airport in Manila for 24 hours.

Communication with many hard-hit areas remains cut off so the full extent of the damage is difficult to ascertain.

But initial reports from the Regional Office of Civil Defense said Goni left at least 10 dead when lahar from Mayon Volcano swept down Travesia, a village in Guinobatan, Albay early on Sunday.

Call us!

At least six more deaths were reported in Catanduanes, BBC reported.

As many as one million people were reportedly displaced from their homes, with about 350,000 still staying in evacuation centers.

In Catanduanes, as many as 275,000 people were cut off from electricity and communications due to the gusting winds.

Many areas in CamSur remain under water (VP Leni Robredo's FB page)

Various media reports say President Rodrigo R. Duterte visited the worst-hit province of Albay after being widely criticized for not taking a direct hand in relief operations before the super typhoon slammed into the country.

The President, accompanied by Senator Bong Go, personally thanked local officials for their “foresight” in issuing warnings about the typhoon and evacuating residents to safety.

CALL US!

“You have to credit the foresight of the local officials (who) warned the residents well in advance and there was an evacuation long before it actually happened. For that alone, I'd like to thank the officials of Guinobatan,” said Duterte, who flew in directly from Davao.

Philippine Red Cross chairman Dick Gordon said Virac, the capital of Catanduanes with a population of 70,000 people, was severely damaged when Goni, with winds of up to 225 kph, first made landfall on the island as a super typhoon on Sunday.

The typhoon subsequently made three more landfalls within the Philippines before it began to move away late Sunday.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

Gordon was quoted by BBC as saying inspection teams reported 80-90% of Virac’s buildings were damaged by the typhoon.

Meanwhile, a new tropical storm is approaching the Philippines and is expected to make landfall later in the week. The latest weather bulletin showed Tropical Storm Atsani was about 910km northeast of Manila, and is forecast to move north slowly across the western North Pacific.

Atsani will linger over the seas east of the Philippines in the next two days before it may move towards the Luzon Strait and enter the northern part of the South China Sea, said the HK Observatory, although its track and intensity are still uncertain.

In Hong Kong, the northeast monsoon is expected to bring slightly cooler weather tomorrow. It will be mainly fine overnight, with temperatures falling to about 21 Celsius in urban areas and 2 degrees lower in the New Territories tomorrow morning.

The maximum daytime temperature tomorrow is forecast at about 26 Celsius. There will be cloudy periods later with moderate northeasterly winds, becoming fresh easterlies later tomorrow.