Toraji, now a weakened tropical storm, blew out to sea overnight after causing relatively limited damage and no fatalities were reported.
But Tropical Storm Usagi is now just two days away from hitting the coast of Luzon, the archipelago’s largest and most populous island, and is gaining strength, the national weather bureau said.
The government said it had evacuated more than 32,000 people from vulnerable areas in the northern Philippines ahead of Toraji’s landfall on Monday, weeks after severe Tropical Storm Trami, Typhoon Yinxing and Super Typhoon Kong-rey killed a total of 159 people.
Most of that figure came during Trami, which brought torrential rains that caused deadly flash floods and landslides.
The government has not reported any substantial flooding caused by Toraji and has not yet called for evacuations ahead of Usagi’s arrival.
“Areas in northern Luzon are at risk of heavy rainfall, strong winds and possible flooding from storm surges from Usagi, which could cause significant impacts,” the weather service said in a new bulletin, using a term for giant coastal waves.
Usagi has strengthened to 85 kilometers per hour and could hit the region late in the day, reaching typhoon category on Wednesday, a day before landfall, it added.
Coastal waters will be rough and “mariners of small seagoing vessels… are advised not to go to sea in these conditions”.
Although the government reported no casualties from Toraji, they said about 15,000 people were still sheltering in mostly government-run evacuation centers.
Utility workers on Tuesday repaired damaged bridges, restored electricity and cleared roads blocked by landslides, fallen trees and electricity pylons, the civil defense agency said.
The full extent of the damage to private homes was not immediately known, but 29 towns and cities were still without power even as ports reopened and young people in nearly 600 towns and cities began returning to classrooms.
“A small number of people were evacuated as a precaution but have since returned home. Classes at the collegiate level have resumed,” civil defense officer Randy Nicolas of Ilocos Norte province on the South China Sea coast of Luzon told AFP.
After Usagi, the weather service said Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently near the Northern Mariana Islands, could also threaten the Philippines next week.
Every year, about 20 major storms and typhoons strike the archipelago or surrounding waters, killing dozens of people and leaving millions in permanent poverty.
A recent study found that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are forming closer to coastlines, intensifying faster and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
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