Philippine passengers stranded as flights cancelled, hundreds evacuated amid super typhoon pummelling

As super typhoon Doksuri intensifies in strength, the Philippines is taking no chances, cancelling flights and shipping, and evacuating coastal areas

Nearly 10,000 people, 75 vessels and more than 1,800 rolling cargoes are stranded in several ports as of Tuesday morning

Reading Time:3 minutes

Passengers stuck at a terminal in the Philippines after sea travel was suspended due to Doksuri. Photo: AP

Published: 9:06pm, 25 Jul 2023Updated: 9:47pm, 25 Jul 2023

Philippine authorities on Tuesday evacuated hundreds of people in coastal communities as super typhoon Doksuri intensified in strength, pummelling the north with strong winds and heavy rains before it heads toward Taiwan and China.

The southeast Asian nation cancelled flights and shipping while it braced for Doksuri, which barrelled toward the rugged terrain of northern Luzon island with winds of 185 kilometres per hour (115 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 230km/h.

“People in Cagayan are used to evacuating whenever a storm is coming. They really do follow the directives,” Ruellie Rapsing, head of the province’s disaster risk reduction council, said in an interview with DZBB radio. People fled their homes in more than 10 coastal towns in Cagayan, where storm surges may be as high as three meters, Rapsing said.

The highest alert in a five-tier wind-strength classification was raised in Babuyan Islands in the extreme north of Luzon, according to the weather bureau, which warned of widespread damage to high-risk structures and a situation that is “potentially very destructive to the community.”

The area has already been seeing some flooding as a result of the monsoon, and the storm may worsen the situation.

The storm is forecast to make landfall or pass very close Cagayan as early as late tonight. Even if the storm doesn’t make landfall, its sheer size means it’s likely to cause disruption to the province, which has experienced massive flooding in the past. Cagayan produces rice and corn, and hosts an economic zone.