Evacuations and Call for Aid as Typhoon Usagi Approaches Philippines

A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
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Evacuations and Call for Aid as Typhoon Usagi Approaches Philippines

A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)

The Philippines ordered evacuations Wednesday ahead of Typhoon Usagi's arrival, as the UN's disaster office sought $32.9 million in aid for the country after recent storms killed more than 150 people.

The national weather service said Usagi -- the archipelago's fifth major storm in three weeks -- would likely make landfall Thursday in Cagayan province on the northeast tip of main island Luzon.

Provincial civil defense chief Rueli Rapsing said mayors had been ordered to evacuate residents in vulnerable areas, by force if necessary, as the 120 kilometers (75 miles) an hour typhoon bears down on the country.

"Under (emergency protocols), all the mayors must implement the forced evacuation, especially for susceptible areas," he told AFP, adding as many as 40,000 people in the province lived in hazard-prone areas.

The area is set to be soaked in "intense to torrential" rain on Thursday and Friday, which can trigger floods and landslides with the ground still sodden from recent downpours, state weather forecaster Christopher Perez told reporters.

He urged residents of coastal areas to move inland due to the threat of storm surges and giant coastal waves up to three meters (nine feet) high, with shipping also facing the peril of 8–10-meter waves.

A sixth tropical storm, Man-yi, is expected to strengthen into a typhoon before hitting the center of the country as early as Friday, Perez said.

With more than 700,000 people forced out of their homes, the successive storms have taken a toll on the resources of both the government and local households, the UN said late Tuesday.

About 210,000 of those most affected by recent flooding need support for "critical lifesaving and protection efforts over the next three months", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

"Typhoons are overlapping. As soon as communities attempt to recover from the shock, the next tropical storm is already hitting them again," UN Philippines Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said.

"In this context, the response capacity gets exhausted and budgets depleted."

The initiative "will help us mobilize the capacities and resources of the humanitarian community to better support government institutions at national, regional and local levels," Gonzalez added.

More than 28,000 people displaced by recent storms are still living in evacuation centers operated by local governments, the country's civil defense office said in its latest tally.

Government crews were still working to restore downed power and communication lines and clearing debris from roads.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the archipelago nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people and keeping millions in enduring poverty.

A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.



Erdogan Says Türkiye Could Take Joint Steps with Elon Musk on Tech

Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Could Take Joint Steps with Elon Musk on Tech

Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)

President Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye could take joint steps with Elon Musk on technology if opportunities for cooperation in that field arise, broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Wednesday.
US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Musk to a role aimed at creating a more efficient government, handing even more influence to the world's richest man who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.
"Musk is a businessman who works in the space and technology field," Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Baku. "Technology isn't a field you can advance on your own, you absolutely need some cooperation. In the event cooperation opportunities arise in this field, steps can be taken with Musk," he was cited as saying.