Philippines on high alert ahead of Typhoon Lupit
MANILA (AFP) – The Philippine military deployed boats and helicopters to the northern Philippines Monday, officials said, as Typhoon Lupit threatened more devastation after two storms claimed nearly 1,000 lives.
"We have been pre-positioning food and transportation assets in areas likely to be hit by the typhoon," Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters.
The navy said it had sent 18 rubber boats, as well as trucks,amphibious vehicles and helicopters to areas of the nation's main Luzon island, which is expected to start being lashed by Lupit from the middle of this week.
The army said troops from its engineering units were also being deployed to the north, while the air force said rescue helicopters had already been sent to areas in Lupit's projected path.
The Southeast Asian nation was on particularly high alert because Luzon is still reeling from two storms in recent weeks that caused massive landslides and floods.
On September 26 Tropical Storm Ketsana dumped the heaviest single day of rains in more than four decades on Manila and surrounding areas, killing 420 people and causing nearly 100 more deaths from ensuing disease outbreaks.
Typhoon Parma hit northern Luzon exactly a week later and hovered over the region for a week as a tropical storm, triggering landslides and floods that left at least 438 people dead.
"We are all on alert," Philippine National Red Cross secretary general Gwen Pang told AFP, as she detailed efforts to stockpile relief goods close to areas that are expected to be affected by Lupit.
Teodoro also said mayors in mountainous regions in the north had been asked to convince their constituents to move to safer areas, and away from potential landslides.
Packing winds of 175 kilometres (109 miles) an hour and gusts of up to 210 kilometres an hour, Lupit was hovering at 1,110 kilometres east of Cagayan province on Monday afternoon, the state weather bureau said.
It was expected to make landfall in northern Luzon on Thursday, although it could start bringing bad weather to the region a day earlier, it said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091019/wl_asia_afp/philippinesfloodtyphoon_20091019083946
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