Typhoon Parma bearing down on the Philippines
Saturday, October 3, 2009
In what must be considered one of the worst times in recent history for Asia, the monsoon season of 2009 has become one of the worst years ever recorded. With the passing of Typhoon Ondoy, also known as Typhoon Ketsana killing more than 300 people and displacing several hundred thousand people from their homes, caused the evacuation of nearly 567,000 people. Another Typhoon is bearing down on the storm-ravaged nation of islands. Typhoon Parma is now expected to make landfall Saturday afternoon. Also known as Typhoon Pepeng, is now approaching the coastline of Luzon, the largest of the Philippine Islands. This is the same area hit just last week from the killer storms. It is expected that another 8 to 20 more inches of rain will fall with this next storm, and people now are rushing again to the stores to stock up on drinking water, canned food and electrical supplies.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroya placed the country "under the state of calamity" in preparation for Parma's landfall. This time around, evacuations have been ordered and if needed, forced evacuations will take place. The order focusus on Camarines Norte, Aurora, northern Quezon, Polillo Island, Isabela and Cagayan.
Last week, 80 percent of the capital, Manila, was under water after experiencing the heaviest rainfall in 40 years. The last store killed at least 74 people in Vietnam and nine in Cambodia.
