MANILA // The Philippines is urging tourists to take precautions or cut short Easter vacations, and may evacuate thousands of people in the path of approaching Typhoon Maysak.
The storm may affect as many as a million people, the United Nation’s global disaster alert and coordination system said on Thursday, downgrading the potential humanitarian impact to medium from high.
The Philippines’ weather bureau forecasts landfall in the provinces of Aurora or Isabela in northern Luzon on either Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Local governments in more than 650 municipalities on Luzon, the nation’s largest island, are coordinating with resort owners to ensure the safety of visitors, said Austere Panadero, undersecretary for local government.
“Maybe they can consider getting out as early as tomorrow before the typhoon hits them; that would be the most desirable action,” Mr Panadero said. “If they are there already and they can’t change their plans, they should make necessary preparations.”
The government has alerted the public against possible flash-floods over low-lying areas and landslides along mountain slopes, particularly in the Aurora-Isabela area.
The surfing province of Baler, which is forecast to host 10,000 visitors this Easter, is among coastal areas at risk from gusts, said Alexander Pama, undersecretary of the civil defence agency.
“We’re watching the situation and, depending on our assessment, may make a recommendation later today,” Mr Pama said on Thursday. Maysak weakened as it closed in on the country, according to the US navy’s joint typhoon warning centre. The storm is expected to weaken further once it hits land and crosses Luzon’s mountain ranges, said Esperanza Cayanan, head of the government’s weather division, adding that the storm will exit the country on April 6.
Meanwhile, residents in storm wrecked areas of Micronesia appealed for help on Thursday as a clean up began on the worst affected islands after Super Typhoon Maysak swept through the region on its way towards the Philippines.
“We can do with all the help we can get,” said Courtney Stinnett at the Truk Stop Hotel dive shop on the main island of Weno in Chuuk state.
A state of emergency has been declared in Chuuk, the largest region in the Federated States of Micronesia, where five people were killed and houses and crops destroyed by Maysak.
The super typhoon took three days to cross the central Pacific archipelago before heading out to sea and towards the Philippines, but relief workers said it could be a year before some land was restored enough to plant crops again.
* Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse