MANILA, 20 October 2009 (IRIN): – Rescue and relief officials are rushing supplies and food to the north of the Philippines, while thousands of people living in areas prone to landslides and flooding were ordered on 20 October to evacuate to safer areas, as Typhoon Lupit was due to make landfall.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 195km near the centre with gusts of 230km/hour, Lupit’s eye was estimated at 820km east-northeast of the province of Cagayan, in the northern island of Luzon.
While it is expected to make landfall only on 22 October, its wide outer rain bands could bring heavy rains and strong winds to northern provinces a day earlier, the state weather bureau said.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Manila said nearly 100 tonnes of food and other relief items had been trucked or airlifted to northern provinces where Lupit was expected to hit.
Lupit comes as the country continues to reel from the devastation wrought by twin typhoons that left 858 people dead and entire areas under flood waters for the past three weeks.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has pre-positioned US$200,000 worth of supplies to four locations in Luzon, comprising emergency kits of essential medicines, sleeping mats and purification tablets for about 8,000 families.
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