Philippines Girds for 'Calamity' Ahead of Super-Typhoon

Areas still stricken by last storm evacuate; Parma expected to hit within hours
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 2, 2009 10:40 PM CDT
Philippines Girds for 'Calamity' Ahead of Super-Typhoon
Map shows forecast rainfall in the Philippines following Typhoon Parma.   (AP)

Filipinos braced to be whipped by powerful winds and pelted with rain from a second typhoon in eight days, fleeing by the tens of thousands from low-lying areas and suspending cleanup operations in the flooded capital. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a nationwide "state of calamity" and ordered mass evacuations of six provinces in the path of Typhoon Parma, expected to hit the main island of Luzon mid-afternoon Saturday.

Cedric Daep, a top disaster official in the Philippines' Albay province, said officials there had evacuated almost 50,000 people to shelters on higher ground. Police and the military were helping people to leave flood- or landslide-prone areas across the north and east, where heavy rain fell Friday. "Our objective is zero casualties," Daep said. (More Philippines stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X