SUPER typhoon Goni barrelled towards the Philippines today with authorities warning of “catastrophic wind damage” in the region expected to receive the hardest hit, where nearly a million people have been evacuated.

The strongest typhoon of the year so far is expected to slam into Catanduanes Island with maximum sustained wind speeds of 215kph before crossing the country’s main island of Luzon, the state weather forecaster said.

The situation in Catanduanes was “extremely dangerous” just hours before landfall, the weather service said in its latest update issued at 2am. 

“Catastrophic wind damage is expected” in Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Albay provinces, it said.

Goni – which intensified into a “super” typhoon as it neared the Philippines – comes a week after typhoon Molave hit the same region of the natural disaster-prone archipelago.

That storm killed 22 people and flooded low-lying villages and farmland, before crossing the South China Sea to Vietnam.

“It looks like we will have really strong winds, increasing the chances of widespread flooding and landslides,” Mark Timbal, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told local broadcaster ABS-CBN on yesterday.

“Storm surges are imminent on our east coast. We are monitoring Mayon and Taal volcanoes for possible volcanic mud flows.”

Almost a million people left their homes in the Bicol region, which includes the southern part of Luzon and Catanduanes.

Authorities spent yesterday marshalling rescue vehicles, emergency response teams and relief goods before the storm’s arrival.

Destructive winds and at times torrential rain are expected in an area that is home to more than 20 million people, the weather service said.

There was a “high risk” of potentially life-threatening storm surges of more than 3m high along parts of the coast, which could inundate low-lying areas, it warned. – AFP, November 1, 2020.