Typhoon Rammasun, also known as Typhoon Glena killed at least 12 people as it hit Philippines on Wednesday. The winds shut down the capital city of Manila and led to power cuts.
According to reports, as many as 3.7 million people have been evacuated from high-risk villages and shifted to emergency shelters in six provinces. Typhoon Rammasun, the strongest storm to hit the country this year, passed to the south of Manila on Wednesday after cutting a path across the main island of Luzon. The winds of 150 kmph were enough to uproot trees, electric posts and roofs.
Richard Gordon, chairperson of the Philippine National Red Cross, said the capital sustained minimal damage but rescue workers were trying to free people trapped under fallen debris in Batangas City to the south. "We have not received reports of major flooding in Metro Manila because the typhoon did not bring rain, but the winds were strong," Gordon said, as quoted by Reuters.
Tropical Storm Risk, an agency that monitors severe weather worldwide, ranked Rammasun as a category-two storm on a scale of one to five as it moves west into the South China Sea.
Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the country in November last year, killed more than 6,000 people and was said to be one of the worst storms on record.
Major weather events of 2014
Australia's department of environment removes references to climate change from its official advice on extreme climate Polar Vortex: Did warming bring chill to US Parts of North America and eastern Europe were experiencing extreme cold weather, at places the temperatures have fallen below -50 degree centigrade. May of 2014 warmest May in recorded history Global average surface temperature in the months of March, April, and May was also the highest since 1891 |