At least 5,000 people have fled their homes with Typhoon Kalmaegi poised to blast into the northern Philippines late Tuesday, with a second tropical storm forecast to hit just days later.

Kalmaegi is expected to batter the nation's lightly populated far north with 120 kilometre (75 mile) per hour winds, the national weather service said.

Heavy rains are forecast to swell rivers, cut off roads and threaten low-lying communities in Cagayan province, where officials guided residents towards shelter.

"We're expecting falling trees and houses that could be inundated by floods," provincial police chief Ariel Quilang told AFP.

Forecasters believe a second tropical storm could make landfall in the same province by Thursday.

The disaster-prone nation is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing hundreds and condemning many areas in their path to perpetual poverty.

The weather bureau raised landslide warnings across the mountainous interior of the country's north, also warning of floods and waves up to two metres (6.5 feet) high in coastal areas.

At least a dozen domestic flights have been cancelled and schools shut down due to Kalmaegi, while small sea vessels were ordered to stay ashore with gale conditions forecast at sea.

The Philippines' deadliest cyclone on record was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Hurricanes have become bigger and more destructive for USA
Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Nov 12, 2019
A new study by researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Aslak Grinsted, Peter Ditlevsen and Jens Hesselbjerg shows that hurricanes have become more destructive since 1900, and the worst of them are more than 3 times as frequent now than 100 years ago. A new way of calculating the destruction, compensating for the societal change in wealth, unequivocally shows a climatic increase in the frequency of the most destructive hurricanes that routinely raise havoc on the North Am ... read more