Philippines Mobilizes Armed Forces for Second Storm in a Week
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By Aaron Sheldrick and Francisco Alcuaz Jr.
Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines mobilized its armed forces as Supertyphoon Parma headed for the country, threatening more heavy rains a week after Tropical Storm Ketsana devastated parts of Manila in Luzon and left 277 people dead.
The Navy has assembled a task force in northern Luzon, where Philippine forecasters expect Parma to make landfall on Oct. 3, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said in a phone interview. The Air Force will send trucks and rubber boats to facilitate evacuations when local officials request them, Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerardo Zamudio said.
Parma’s winds increased to 241 kilometers (150 miles) per hour today, according to the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center, making it a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It’s forecast to get stronger before making landfall, according to the center.
The government “should prepare for the worst,” said Jose Bersales, emergency affairs director of World Vision Philippines, which is providing food and aid to 20,000 survivors of Ketsana.
The Philippines weather agency, which refers to Parma as Pepeng, raised its No. 1 storm signal for areas of southeastern Luzon today, meaning winds of between 30 and 60 kph are expected. A gale warning was issued for islands to the southeast of Luzon.
Parma was 516 kilometers east of the city of Tacloban at 2 p.m. local time, the U.S. center said. Tacloban is 575 kilometers southeast of Manila. Parma’s winds were gusting to 296 kph and waves near the eye are as high as 9 meters (29 feet), according to the U.S. center.
Originally Posted by Elspeth
