A succession of typhoons kills at least 159 people in the Philippines

There is no respite for the Philippines. In recent weeks, the archipelago has successively faced several typhoons, which have already killed 159 people and devastated the north of the archipelago. According to The Guardian, the first three were the most virulent, and the fourth – typhoon Toraji – retreated to sea during the night of Monday 11 to Tuesday 12 November without having caused major damage.

However, the weather forecasts do not predict a return to calm. A fifth typhoon – Usagi, known locally as “Ofel” – is expected “reach the east coast of [la province de] Cagayan ou [la province d’]Isabela on Thursday November 14 in the afternoon”, warns the Filipino daily The Manila Times, whose information matches a map of the New York Times designed to follow the typhoon.

After Usagi, the Philippine meteorological agency is already warning of a sixth tropical storm, Man-yi, “currently around the Northern Mariana Islands”, Who “could also threaten the Philippines the week of November 18,” according to The Guardian.

At present, “15,000 people remain sheltered in evacuation centers, mostly managed by public authorities,” according to the Philippine government, cited by The Guardian. The extent of the damage is not yet known, “but 29 cities of varying sizes remain without electricity, at a time when ports have reopened and children in nearly 600 localities have returned to school.”

Every year, “around 20 violent storms hit the Philippines, causing hundreds of deaths and keeping millions of people in poverty”, concludes the British newspaper.