Philippines evacuates coastal areas as Typhoon Rammasun approaches

Thousands of people living in coastal areas of the Philippines were preparing on Monday to evacuate as the first major storm of the rainy season barrelled towards the archipelago.

Typhoon Rammasun is expected to hit fishing communities in the eastern Philippines late on Tuesday and then bring heavy rain to Manila and other heavily populated northern areas, civil defence officials said.

The Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms a year, many of them deadly, and Rammasun will be the first to make landfall since the rainy season began last month.

Authorities said they were taking every precaution to avoid fatalities, after Super Typhoon Haiyan left about 7,300 people dead or missing when it tore across the central Philippines in November last year.

“We are already warning the public to be on alert for possible effects of the weather disturbance: landslides, flash floods, strong rains and winds,” said Alexander Pama, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Miguel Villafuerte, governor of Camarines Sur province in southern Luzon which is expected to be hit hard by the storm, said many people in vulnerable areas were already being urged to flee.

“We are extra-cautious because of what happened with Yolanda last year,” he said, using the local name for Haiyan.