Typhoon Mirinae to hit Philippines

Philippines authorities ordered schools to close and stockpiled relief goods throughout Luzon, as Typhoon Mirinae bore down on the archipelago, where about 1,100 people have died in tropical cyclones this year.

Primary and secondary schools in most parts of Luzon were suspended, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said on its Web site today. More than 1,000 ferry passengers were stranded in ports after the government banned ships and other vessels from taking to the sea, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported, citing a coastguard official.

The typhoon’s expected landfall coincides with All Saints’ weekend, when many Filipinos travel by boat and other means to their home provinces in the archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. They also visit cemeteries to pay respects to their ancestors.

The Philippines has been battered by more than 10 cyclones this year, according to the council’s Web site. More than 121,000 people remain in evacuation centers after two cyclones barreled into Luzon, the most populous island, since Sept. 26.

The Philippine National Police sent rescue boats to northern and central Luzon from Manila at 6 a.m. to add to equipment in those areas, Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, said in a phone interview.

Boats have also been stationed in Manila, he said. About 80 percent of Manila, a city of almost 12 million people, was flooded after Tropical Storm Ketsana passed over on Sept. 26.

Mirinae’s eye was 360 kilometers (225 miles) east-southeast of the city of Casiguran on eastern Luzon at 10 a.m. local time today, the Philippines weather office said.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 150 kph, with gusts to 185 kph, and was moving west-southwest at 22 kph, the office said.

The Storm Signal No. 3 was raised for the coastal areas east of Manila and the Polillo islands, meaning winds of between 100 and 185 kph are expected. Storm Signal No. 2, indicating winds of between 60 and 100 kph are expected, was hoisted for most of the rest of Luzon.

Mirinae, referred to as Santi in the Philippines, is forecast to make landfall east of Manila after 2 a.m. tomorrow and sweep across the capital before heading over the South China Sea, according to the agency’s forecast.

The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday sent rescue divers to the eastern coast of Luzon and to areas on the western coast where Mirinae is forecast to exit the island.

As many as 800 people were killed after a ferry sank in June last year when Typhoon Fengshen slammed into the Philippines.

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