Wednesday, July 16, 2014

20 dead, 370,000 evacuated as typhoon passes Philippines

Solar News (Philippines): Typhoon Glenda (international name: Ramassun) left 20 people dead and caused the evacuation of more than 370,000 by the time it hit Metro Manila early on Wednesday, July 16. By early evening, it was last located over the West Philippine Sea moving towards Bajo de Masinloc, Zambales according to a latest bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Glenda was last spotted 160 km west of Zambales packing winds of 140 kph and gustiness of up to 170 kph. It was moving west northwest at 24 kph. Public storm signals have now been lowered.

Metro Manila is now under Storm Signal No. 1, along with Laguna, Batangas, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Zambales, Pangasinan, Lubang Island, and the northern part of Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, PAGASA forecaster Rene Paciente said the weather is expected to improve late in the evening. Glenda is expected to leave Philippine territory by tomorrow afternoon (July 17).

Earlier, the typhoon shut down Manila, the capital, cutting power and prompting the evacuation of almost more than 370,000 people, rescue officials said. The eye of Glenda, the strongest storm to hit the country this year, passed south of Manila after cutting a path across the main island of Luzon, toppling trees and power lines and causing electrocutions and widespread blackouts....

A tropical storm over Manila in 2008 (something much less powerful than Ramassun/Glenda), shot by CE Photo Uwe Aranas, Wikimedia Commons,  under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

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