MOSCOW, December 3 (Sputnik) – The Philippines have started to evacuate residents of coastal villages and landslide-prone communities following warnings of typhoon Hagiput, which is expected to hit the central part of the country, Reuters said.
Typhoon Hagupit, which translates “lash” from Filipino, is currently near the Palau islands, but is expected to hit the eastern Philippines after picking up more strength – Hagupit’s winds are expected to reach up to 140 km per hour and gusts more than 170 km per hour.
“Definitely we will now strictly enforce forced evacuation,” said vice-mayor of Tacloban City in Central Philippines Jerry Yaokasin, as quoted by Reuters. “We have no more excuse, we have gone through Yolanda, and to lose that many lives, it’s beyond our conscience already”.
Last year, Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,000 people dead or missing. Tacloban City was almost entirely flattened, accounting for nearly half of the dead, Reuters reported.
