greenspin Typhoon Usagi Slams Into the Philippines

Typhoon Usagi made landfall in the Philippines on Thursday as the authorities warned that the storm could cause widespread flooding and landslides in the north of the country.

Usagi, called Ofel in the Philippines, is the fifth major storm to hit the country in the past three weeks. The other four — Toraji, Trami, Yinxing and Kong-rey — killed more than 100 people and caused destruction. This week, four tropical storms churned at once in and around the South China Sea and the North Pacific, the first time that had happened in the region in November since records began.

The government said Usagi hit Luzon, the most populous island in the Philippines, around 1:30 p.m. More than 24,000 people in the province of Cagayan have been evacuated, including people who fled from earlier storms, Reuters reported.

Earlier on Thursday, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. A Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic packs the same force.

The national weather agency of the Philippines, PAGASA, said Usagi weakened as it made landfall and would continue to weaken as it moved north.

Tracking Tropical Depression Usagi

See the likely path and wind arrival times for Usagi.

More than eight inches of rainfall was expected in the northeastern part of Luzon, PAGASA said. The service warned that Usagi could cause storm surge exceeding three meters, or nearly 10 feet, in some areas.

After leaving the Philippines, the storm is forecast to head toward Taiwan, where the Central Weather Administration issued a sea and land typhoon warning on Friday morning.

The recent typhoons in the Philippines have stretched its resources for disaster relief. The United Nations said this week that it had approved $3.5 million in humanitarian funds for U.N. agencies working in the country.

“Typhoons are overlapping,” Gustavo Gonzalez, who coordinates U.N. humanitarian efforts in the Philippines, said in a statement. “As soon as communities attempt to recover from the shock, the next tropical storm is already hitting them again.”

Amanda Holpuch contributed reporting.greenspin

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