Thousands of Filipinos who live near coastlines and mountainous areas were evacuated Friday as the storm-battered country braced for Typhoon Parma, which is expected to make landfall Saturday. Parma, known locally as Typhoon Pepeng, comes on the heels of a weekend storm that killed hundreds in the Philippines and left most of Manila under water.President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country "under the state of calamity" in preparation for Parma's landfall. She ordered evacuations as a precautionary measure against floods and landslides, and asked weather officials to issue an hourly update. She also urged local governments to implement forced evacuations if need be.The order focuses on Camarines Norte, Aurora, northern Quezon, Polillo Island, Isabela and Cagayan. Parma had maximum sustained winds of 138 mph (222 km/hr), said Jennifer Delgado, CNN meteorologist. It is likely to move slow with torrential rainfall and strong winds, she said.Within the next 24 hours, Parma could develop into a super typhoon, the Philippines weather.
Thousands of Filipinos who live near coastlines and mountainous areas were evacuated Friday as the storm-battered country braced for Typhoon Parma, which is expected to make landfall Saturday. Parma, known locally as Typhoon Pepeng, comes on the heels of a weekend storm that killed hundreds in the Philippines and left most of Manila under water.President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country "under the state of calamity" in preparation for Parma's landfall. She ordered evacuations as a precautionary measure against floods and landslides, and asked weather officials to issue an hourly update. She also urged local governments to implement forced evacuations if need be.The order focuses on Camarines Norte, Aurora, northern Quezon, Polillo Island, Isabela and Cagayan. Parma had maximum sustained winds of 138 mph (222 km/hr), said Jennifer Delgado, CNN meteorologist. It is likely to move slow with torrential rainfall and strong winds, she said.Within the next 24 hours, Parma could develop into a super typhoon, the Philippines weather.
