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Typhoon Goni: ‘strongest storm’ this year heads for Vietnam after tearing across Philippines
- The storm, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, killed at least 20, but 1.07 million tonnes of rice was saved thanks to an early warning
- The previous record for strongest landfalling tropical cyclones was held by Super Typhoons Meranti and Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2016 and 2013
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Typhoon Goni, Philippines’ strongest storm of 2020, kills at least 10 people
Typhoon Goni, Philippines’ strongest storm of 2020, kills at least 10 people
Super Typhoon Goni, the world’s strongest storm this year, ripped off roofs, felled trees and left thousands of homes without electricity as it tore through the Philippines’ main Luzon island on Sunday, killing at least 20 people and forcing over 450,000 more to evacuate.
The evacuated people included 177 Covid-19 patients and more than 400 medical staff from 10 quarantine facilities, the nation’s disaster risk-monitoring agency said in a report on Monday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque, in a televised briefing, asked local officials to ensure social distancing measures are in place in evacuation centres.
The storm, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, slammed the eastern portion of the Philippines before crossing several provinces. Goni is now headed to the South China Sea where it will gather strength before hitting Vietnam.
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“Goni is the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone” in history, said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections and co-founder of Weather Underground.
The previous record was held by Super Typhoons Meranti and Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2016 and 2013, respectively. Goni is the world’s third Category 5 storm this year, he said on Yale Climate Connections’ website.
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