The Philippines prepares for Haiyan, the "worst typhoon of the year"
Manila ( AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - The Philippine authorities are preparing for the arrival of category
5 typhoon Haiyan , which should hit the central areas of the archipelago tomorrow
with winds up to 278 km / h. Some
schools have been closed as a precautionary measure and in many areas evacuation
operations are underway involving thousands of citizens, particularly the
eastern coastal areas. All sea vessels have been ordered to return to port, for
what promises to be "the worst typhoon of the year ."
Typhoon
Haiyan should touch ground by noon tomorrow , November 8 , between the islands
of Samar and Leyte . These
areas were already battered by 7.3-magnitude
earthquake that hit the area last month , including the island of Bohol ,
the most devastated by the earthquake. 5
thousand people are still living in tents set up in the reception centers in
Bohol , after losing their home to strong shocks .
Meteorologists
warn that Haiyan , the 25th typhoon this year, could be as devastating as (or
more than ) typhoon Botha, which hit the south of the country in 2012 , causing
at least a thousand deaths and over a billion dollars in damages . To
date about 30 provinces are on alert, including
Eastern Samar .
Meanwhile,
Filipino Catholics trust in prayer in the hopes that the intensity of the
typhoon may decrease in the coming hours , mitigating its effects once it hits the
mainland. In
the Diocese of Borongan every parish celebrated a Mass and offered special
prayers for the areas that will be affected by Haiyan . Moments
of recollections were also held in all the churches of the Diocese of Legazpi,
in Albay province , so that the country may be saved from another disaster
after the earthquake , floods and landslides in the recent past .
In
August, two people died and thousands were left homeless in the north of the
Philippines in the passage of the typhoon Utor , which hit the north of the
country . Church
and Catholic organizations immediately set to work to bring relief to the
people , in a nation hit by at least 20 typhoons each year ( Utor was the 13th
) . Moreover
typhoons , tropical storms , hurricanes are very frequent during the summer
season in many parts of east and south- east Asia, where the warm, moist air,
combined with the low pressure creates the ideal conditions for the formation
of these atmospheric
phenomena .
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