The Washington Post - USA (2020-11-13)

A14 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020

er,appearedtoanswerthatques-

tioninashort video broadcast,

saying thegovernment was on top

of the situation.

Headded thathis securityde-

tailwas preventing him fromgo-

ingout. “It’snot thatIamata

distance from you,” he said. “I

wanttogothere and swim with

you,but Iambeingstopped.Be-

causeif Idie, there’s only one

president.”

In the eastern Philippines,

which faces thePacific Ocean,

communitieshavenot fully recov-

eredfromthe batteringstorms

overthe past three weeks.

In Naga City, the power gridhad

beenpartially restored whenVam-

co struck, causingblackouts

again,saidMarionLegacion,a

volunteer organizer and themay-

or’s wife.Thearea sufferedup-

rooted trees, flooded neighbor-

hoods and waterloggedcrops.

“A sfar as morale is concerned,

the fear is there,”she said,“but we

have tofight.”

On theisland of Catanduanes—

whereGoni made landfallthis

month andfelled communication

lines have not beenfully restored

—aroad thatwas recently cleared

wasblocked by debrisagain. A

storm surgeofbetween seven and

10 feetwas forecast.

CasianoMonilla,assistantsec-

retaryofthe Office of CivilDe-

fense, saidinanonlinenews con-

ferenceThursday thatthe govern-

mentwas “notcaught flat-footed”

by the disaster but could not im-

mediately providefigures forpre-

emptiveevacuations or answer

questions about shortcomings in

preparedness.

MaharLagmay,executivedirec-

torofthe Universityofthe Philip-

pines’ ResilienceInstitute,said

the weather forecastmayhave

beenaccuratebut thatanefficient

warning systemrequired much

more. With the worsening climate

crisis and floods inundatingmore

areas,hesaid, thegovernment

neededtomap unprecedented

dangers and clearly communicate

themtoresidents.

“Wehavetoprepare[for] haz-

ardsthatare bigger than what we

remember and whatweexperi-

enced,” Lagmaysaid.“If we do not,

whenitcomes, whentheyare big-

ger, people willgetsurprised.”

ByThursday afternoon,Vamco

was leaving the Philippines over

the SouthChinaSea.Itspassage

overLuzon weakened thestorm,

whosepeakwinds dropped to the

levelofaCategory1hurricane.

Vamcoisprojected to movewest

and come ashore in Vietnam on

Saturday.

[email protected]

MatthewCappucciand Jason

Samenow inWashington contributed

to thisreport.

BYREGINECABATO

manila —Aweek andahalf after

the Philippines sufferedadeadly

hit fromasupertyphoon,another

storm battered the countryover-

night intoThursday, cuttingpow-

er to millions and leavingat least

39 deadand 22missing, according

to the military. Countlessothers

werestranded, and byFridayau-

thoritiessaidtheyhad rescued

more than 138,000.

TyphoonVamco,the equivalent

of aCategory2hurricane,struck

the northern islandofLuzon, the

thirdtyphoonandfifthtropical

cycloneto affect thePhilippinesin

less thanthree weeks.

SuperTyphoonGoninarrowly

sidestepped the capitalregionof

more than 12 million this month,

but Vamco brought rain and

winds of upto 105mphWednes-

daynightintoThursday.The Phil-

ippine Atmospheric,Geophysical

and Astronomical ServicesAd-

ministration issued aSignal 3

warning,ona1through5scale,for

much of Luzon,includingtheMa-

nilametropolitan area.

Thestorms presentdouble

trouble for the Philippines’ over-

crowdedevacuationcentersasthe

coronavirus continuestospread.

Thecountrysurpassed 402,

cases thisweek, the second-high-

estnumberinSoutheast Asia.

OnThursday, houses were sub-

mergedand Filipinos werestrand-

ed on rooftops.Thehashtag #Res-

cuePH trendedonsocial media,

withpeoplepostingtheir where-

abouts and contactdetails, beg-

ging for help.Some wererescued

on rubber life boats; in one video, a

child was floated outinabasin.

Inthe capitalregion,ariver

cuttingthrough Marikina City

swelled, forcing residents to seek

higher ground. Asteel bridge

sweptaway by floodwaters lodged

against an elevated roadwayout-

sideamall.

AMarikina resident, Lester

Abuel, said that after the riverrose

by more thanthreefeet in less

thananhour, heandhis parents

began packingup. At 5: 30 a.m.,

th ey left with the clothes ontheir

backs and some supplies—but the

damageproved to be farworse

thantheyexpected.

“Lookingat thephotos and vid-

eos in ourFacebook villagegroup,

weknewthattherewouldn’t be

anything to salvageafter,” he said.

“Itwas gut-wrenching to seethe

calls forhelp.”

TheManila Electric Company

saidalmost 2million households

—afifthofits base—still had no

electricityatmidday Thursday.

Asresidentsassessed the toll, the

phrase #NasaanAngPangulo, or

“Whereisthe president?,”began

trending onTwitter.RodrigoDu-

te rte, thecountry’spopulistlead-

Typhoon Vamco batters

Philippines, killing 13

BASILIO SEPE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

ManilaManila

NagaNaga

Philippine

South Sea

China

Sea

Pathof

Typhoon

Vamco

CatanduanesCatanduanes

Forecast

100 MILES

PHILIPPINES

Path of Super

Typhoon Goni

THE WASHINGTON POST

MarikinaMarikina

ACE MORANDANTE/MALACANANG PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS DIVISION/AP

EZRA ACAYAN/GETTY IMAGES

TOP: Rescuers carrychildrenout of

astreet floodedafter heavyrains

broughtbyTyphoonVamco,in

Marikina City,eastofManila,on

Thursday. Ariverthatcutsthrough

Marikina City alsoswelled, forcing

residents to seekhigher ground.

ABOVE:Vehiclesstayonabridgeto

avoid floodwatersfromTyphoon

Vamco in metropolitanManila on

Thursday. BELOW:Residentssit on

to pofbicycle taxis Thursdayina

floodedvillageinRizalprovince;

tens of thousandsofhomeshave

beensubmergedbyfloodwaters.

Thetyphoonleft at leas t39dead

and 22 missing.