The hurricane of the heaviest category follows a few days after the previous one, hurricane Molave, which killed at least 22 inhabitants and caused considerable damage before moving on to Vietnam.
Goni is the most severe storm of the year, possibly bigger than the devastating hurricane Haiyan in 2013, which claimed more than 6,000 lives and left hundreds of thousands homeless in the Philippines. As in the past, heavy flooding and serious wind damage are now expected. There are also warnings for mudslides with volcanic material.
“There are so many people in incredibly vulnerable areas,” said Ricardo Jalad, the head of the emergency response service. “We expect serious damage.” Ports and airports are closed, as are schools.
Coronavirus
The Philippines is hit by about 20 hurricanes every year. This time, preparations have been disrupted by the corona virus, which is also seriously affecting the country with more than 380,000 registered cases and 7200 deaths. “We are having such a hard time with Covid-19 and here is yet another disaster,” said Senator Christopher Go, a key ally of President Duterte.
Some 1,000 corona patients who were nursed in tents because the hospitals were overloaded have been transferred to hospitals and hotels in connection with Hurricane Goni. To prevent the evacuations before the storm from leading to a massive wave of contamination, more shelters have been opened for people who had to flee their homes.
The government takes into account that people will have to stay longer in the shelters, even if Goni has already moved further to the South China Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, a new storm seems to be forming that will also hit the islands within a few days.
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