MANILA, Philippines — Police went door to door urging residents to leave landslide-ravaged areas of the northern Philippines on Saturday as a new typhoon loomed, officials said. Recent back-to-back storms killed more than 750 people.
Forecasters said Typhoon Lupit — the Filipino word for cruel— had intensified overnight and by late Saturday was packing sustained winds of 87 mph and gusts of up to 106 mph.
The Philippines is still recovering from Tropical Storm Ketsana in late September, which triggered the worst flooding in Manila in more than 40 years, and the Oct. 3 landfall of Typhoon Parma, which lingered for a week while drenching the main island of Luzon. The two storms killed 773 people and affected more than 7 million.
In Benguet province’s Cordillera mountain region, Gov. Nestor Fongwan said he had ordered police officers to go house to house to tell people to leave ahead of Typhoon Lupit, which could reach the Philippines by Tuesday.
“Definitely, they must go,” Fongwan told The Associated Press.
At least 288 died in storm-fueled landslides in the area about 130 miles north of the capital, Manila.
Although Typhoon Lupit was days away and could change course, officials said early action was necessary.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who also heads the National Disaster Coordinating Council, said people in areas still recovering would be easier to persuade to leave their homes in a “pre-emptive evacuation.” Evacuating early “might be a much easier endeavor now,” Teodoro told reporters in Manila.
Back-to-back deadly storms
Tropical Storm Ketsana: It crossed the main island of Luzon on Sept. 26.
Typhoon Parma: It first hit Oct. 3 then returned Oct. 8 and caused more than $100 million in damage to crops and property.
Typhoon Lupit: By late Saturday, it was packing sustained winds of 87 mph. It could reach the Philippines by Tuesday but also could change course.
