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29 March 2024

Nature's Fury: Typhoon shuts HK, Philippines erupts, Quake rocks Tokyo, Mexico's hurricane chaos

Published
By Agencies

The Philippines has evacuated more than 12,000 people from around the foot of its most active volcano as the crater glows red and authorities warn of a possible eruption.


A motorcycle (C) falls on the street as residents ride their vehicles against strong wind and heavy rainfall under the influence of Typhoon Kalmaegi, in Haikou, Hainan province September 16, 2014. Typhoon Kalmaegi brought gusts of up to 125km/h (78 mph) in the past hour as it swept past on its way towards China's Guangdong province and Hainan Island after it plunged northern parts of the Philippines into darkness and inundated farmland. (REUTERS)



Applicants queue up to apply for US visas under the rain outside the US Embassy in Manila as the tail end of Typhoon Kalmaegi continues to dump rain across the northern part of the Philippines on September 15, 2014. Typhoon Kalmaegi swept out of the Philippines on September 15, leaving flooding and thousands of displaced people but without the massive casualties that usually follow such storms, officials said. (AFP)

Mount Mayon, known for its near-perfect cone shape in the coconut-growing central Bicol region, has recorded a series of recent quakes and rockfalls, indicating a possible eruption within weeks.

"We are now raising the alert status of Mayon Volcano from alert level 2 to 3," Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said on Tuesday.



A Filipino boatman passes by a flooded village sitting beside a swollen river as it slowly recedes in suburban Quezon city, Philippines on Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Fast-moving typhoon Kalmaegi blew out of the northern Philippines Monday after causing flash floods and landslides. Three people died when big waves and strong winds sank a stalled ferry over the weekend. (AP)


Joey Salceda, governor of the central Albay province, said more than 12,000 people were forcibly evacuated.

"What the alert level 3 did was to fast-track the preparation to evacuate 12,000 families in the 6-8 km extended danger zone," he said.

The evacuees would be housed in temporary shelter for as long as three months, he said. More villagers, facing the southeastern crater rim, would be moved to safer areas if Mayon erupts.



A Philippine Air Force rescue helicopter takes off as rescuers continued to search for surivors of the ill-fated Maharlika II ferry after it sank in bad weather at the port of Lipata in Surigao City on the southern island of Mindanao on September 14, 2014. Three people were killed as rescuers searched for at least three others still missing with more than a hundred rescued after a ferry sank in waters off the central Philippines, the government said September 14. (AFP)


Troops were enforcing the no-go area, preventing people from returning home.

A major eruption is not expected to impact the country's farm output with mostly subsistence farmers tilling the land around the volcano. There is also no major industry in the area.


A Filipino wades through floodwaters as residents who earlier evacuated due to a swollen river return to their homes in suburban Quezon city, Philippines Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Fast-moving typhoon Kalmaegi blew out of the northern Philippines Monday after causing flash floods and landslides. Three people died when big waves and strong winds sank a stalled ferry over the weekend. (AP)

But an eruption could boost tourism, as happened the last time Mayon erupted in 2009. It has erupted nearly 50 times over the last 600 years.

The most destructive eruption was in February 1841, when lava flows buried a town and killed 1,200 people.

Hurricane Odile: Tourists stranded, looting begins



People salvage the useful remains from houses destroyed by Hurricane Odile in Los Cabos, Mexico,  Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Hundreds of impoverished houses were destroyed in the Unidad Real squatter's settlement and other equally poor neighborhoods. Mexico’s Interior Ministry declared a state of natural disaster for affected areas in the state of Baja California Sur. (AP)

Hurricane Odile destroyed homes and shut down airports in Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Monday, sparking looting, marooning thousands of foreign tourists and injuring 135 people.

The powerful storm caused heavy material damage in Los Cabos resort towns and hotels were badly flooded, but nobody was killed and the hurt were treated for only minor injuries such as cuts.



A kid walks by a souvenir store damaged by Hurricane Odile on San Lucas' main street, in Los Cabos, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Hurricane Odile hammered Mexico's Baja California Peninsula overnight, damaging homes and tearing away the facades of luxury resorts, shattering countless car and hotel windows and leaving lobbies swamped and full of debris on Monday. (AP)


Hundreds of looters ransacked supermarkets and electronic stores, snatching rice, water, toilet paper, alcohol, televisions, and fans after the passage of the hurricane, which later weakened as it moved north.

More than 1,000 troops were deployed to the disaster area, which was without electricity and running water. Scores of wood-plank and tin-roof homes were leveled in one neighborhood.



A young man carries several packs of beer from a convenience store destroyed by Hurricane Odile as Mexican soldiers try to stop people from looting in Los Cabos, Mexico,  Monday, Sept. 15, 2014.  Hurricane Odile hammered Mexico's Baja California Peninsula overnight, damaging homes and tearing away the facades of luxury resorts, shattering countless car and hotel windows and leaving lobbies swamped and full of debris on Monday. (AP)


"I'm taking water for the children and food for the baby. You never know what can happen tomorrow," Osvaldo Lopez, 41, said as he left a convenience store.

Some 24,000 foreigners and 6,000 Mexican beachgoers were looking at a second night in hotels that served as temporary shelters.

Authorities scrambled to reopen the international airports in Los Cabos and La Paz in order to send military planes to airlift the tourists.

But National Civil Protection coordinator Luis Felipe Puente said the first planes would only leave Tuesday because of the damage caused by strong winds at the terminals.



Tourists sit on the concrete stairs in the service area of a resort after the designated area for shelter was destroyed by winds in Los Cabos, Mexico,  Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Hurricane Odile raked the Baja California Peninsula with strong winds and heavy rains early Monday as locals and tourists in the resort area of Los Cabos began to emerge from shelters and assess the damage. (AP)


"We don't have optimal conditions to begin flights in the next few hours," he told a news conference, adding that sick tourists and the elderly would be airlifted first.

The hurricane smashed hotel windows, flooded rooms and sent palm trees flying into swimming pools.

"I'm disappointed about my vacation, but above all my heart aches for the people from here who lost everything," said Tifani Brown, a 34-year-old American tourist who had only arrived Sunday -- the day the hurricane hit -- from California.

"It's one thing to see hurricanes on TV. It's another to live them," she said.

Tourist Patrick Egan from California looks at the interior patios of the Hilton hotel, damaged by Hurricane Odile in Los Cabos, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Hurricane Odile blazed a trail of destruction through Mexico's Baja California Peninsula that leveled everything from ramshackle homes to big box stores and luxury hotels, leaving roads and entire neighborhoods as disaster zones. (AP)

Some tourists said they spent the night at the Los Cabos airport's luggage room after flights were canceled on Sunday. They were now looking at a night in a hotel near the airport.

"When the hurricane hit, the light went out in the airport, windows shattered, the ceiling fell and some computers exploded," said Mariana Perez, a 26-year-old Mexican engineer, showing a video of it on her phone.

5.6 quake rocks Tokyo

Typhoon shuts Hong Kong

Construction tape whips about in strong winds at the Ocean Terminal, as dark clouds loom over Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong island in the background September 16, 2014. Strong winds and heavy rain hit Hong Kong on Tuesday as a typhoon headed to the south of the financial hub, disrupting business and closing the stock market for at least part of the morning. (REUTERS)

Hong Kong was shuttered Tuesday as a powerful typhoon swept past the city, bringing strong winds and rain that caused flight disruptions and forced the closure of the stock market and container ports.



A man walks under the rain in the Sheung Wan district of Hong Kong during a thunderstorm caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi on September 16, 2014. Hong Kong was shuttered on September 16 as a powerful typhoon swept past the city, bringing strong winds and rain that caused flight disruptions and forced the closure of the stock market and container ports. (AFP)


Typhoon Kalmaegi, packing gusts of 125 kilometres (77 miles) per hour, was centred 400 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong as it barrelled towards the northern tip of China's Hainan island.



Chinese tourists take pictures in front of the Kowloon skyline during a thunderstorm in Hong Kong caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi on September 16, 2014. Hong Kong was shuttered on September 16 as a powerful typhoon swept past the city, bringing strong winds and rain that caused flight disruptions and forced the closure of the stock market and container ports. (AFP)

"Although Kalmaegi is moving away, occasional gales will still affect the southwestern part and high ground of Hong Kong," the Hong Kong Observatory said on its website.



Firemen attend an emergency call in Western District in Hong Kong during a thunderstorm caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi on September 16, 2014. Hong Kong was shuttered on September 16 as a powerful typhoon swept past the city, bringing strong winds and rain that caused flight disruptions and forced the closure of the stock market and container ports. (AFP)


The Observatory hoisted the number-eight tropical cyclone warning on Monday evening, triggering the closure of schools and businesses in the city. It was lowered to a number-three strong wind signal late Tuesday morning.

Twenty-five people have sought treatment for typhoon-related injuries, the city's Hospital Authority told AFP.

At Hong Kong's airport, over 500 flights were delayed while nearly 40 were cancelled, a government statement said.


Passengers brave the strong winds as they wait for a bus, in Hong Kong, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the number 8 southeast storm signal, as Typhoon Kalmaegi edges closer to Hong Kong. (AP)


It said that there were 44 reports of fallen trees and that some parts of the city were flooded, but there were no reports of landslides.

The Hong Kong stock exchange cancelled its morning trading session but said it would reopen if if the number-eight warning -- the third in a five-tier warning system -- was lowered before noon.