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| PAGASA map charts Leon's expected path |
Northern Luzon bore the brunt of gale-force winds and heavy rains as Typhoon Leon (international name: Kong-rey) intensified into a super typhoon this morning, with winds of 185 kilometers per hour and gusts of over 230 kph, prompting weathermen to raise a rare Signal No. 4 over the Batanes islands.
“The situation is potentially very destructive to the
community,” according to PAGASA, the Philippines’ weather bureau. “Evacuation
to safer shelters should have been completed since it may be too late under
this situation.”
Typhoon signals 1 to 3 were also raised over the rest of
Luzon.
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Leon’s force pulled together rain-laden clouds that cover
most of the country, leaving only Mindanao relatively clear, prompting warnings
of floods and landslides especially in areas battered by Storm Kristine which
surged through the country earlier this week.
So far, 125 people have been reported dead and 28 missing as
a result of both Kristine and Leon, according to the National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
NDRRMC said 115 persons were also reported injured.
In Hong Kong, the super typhoon will hardly be felt, as it will be about 800
kilometres away as of tomorrow morning, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
“Kong-rey will move across the vicinity of the central and
southern parts of Taiwan, then turn northwards and edge closer to northern
Fujian, maintaining a distance of over 500 kilometres from Hong Kong in the
next couple of days,” the Observatory said.
It attributed Hong Kong’s current dry weather until Saturday
to a “dry replenishment of the northeast monsoon” over the eastern shore of
China, which is also expected to push the typhoon off Fujian province in the next
two days.
But the Observatory said it will issue the Strong Monsoon
Signal depending on the change in local wind conditions.
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