Strong winds and strong waves hit the eastern Philippines on Monday, as the strongest typhoon in April hit the Pacific Ocean, killing one man and causing flooding in low-lying communities, according to inform disaster officials.
The national meteorological office issued a warning on Monday of strong winds and heavy rainfall, saying “typhoon-destroying winds extend outward up to 110 km (68.35 miles) from the center of the storm. “.
More than 100,000 people were evacuated from coastal areas, according to provincial disaster agencies.
The core of Surigae, or Bising, known locally as a storm, is not expected to reach land. But with a diameter of 500 km and winds reaching 195 km per hour, parts of the eastern islands of Samar experienced flooding, while several communities lost power.
According to experts, the first super typhoon of 2021 foreshadows a season of busy storms for the region next year.
“Early indications are that the 2021 typhoon season will be at least an average of activity, and possibly above average,” US meteorologist Jeff Masters wrote in a post on the Yale Climate Connections website, which reports daily on climatic conditions.
Atmospheric scientists say the data show that storms, called typhoons, cyclones or hurricanes in different parts of the world, are intensifying due to global warming.
“The fuel for these storms is the warm oceans,” said Anne-Claire Fontan, a scientific officer at the World Meteorological Organization based in Geneva.
“The global trend is that they are getting stronger and higher and a higher percentage of total storms will be stronger.”
A warmer atmosphere contains more moisture, allowing gale-force winds to pour more rain. In particular, the water temperature in the western Pacific Ocean is above the global average, making it fertile ground for mega storms like the Surigae. The region sees more storms than any other part of the world, more than 70% of which occur at the peak of the season between July and October.
Disaster officials said a 79-year-old man from southern Leyte province in the Philippines was confirmed dead after being hit by a fallen tree and a missing person.
The Philippines sees about 20 tropical storms annually. Last year, the strongest typhoon of the year, Goni, hit the country with gusts of up to 310km per hour, killing 25 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 345,000.
Meanwhile, Taiwan expects the storm to produce much-needed rain to alleviate the drought, and people are turning to social media to welcome it. However, it is expected to move away from Taiwan to the Pacific, and bring rain only to the northern part of the island later this week.
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