Strong winds and high waves hit the eastern Philippines on Monday as the strongest typhoon ever passed in April in the Pacific Ocean, killing one man and causing flooding in lower-lying communities, disaster officials said.
The National Weather Bureau issued a warning for severe winds and heavy rains Monday, saying that “devastating typhoon winds extend up to 110 km (68.35 miles) from the center of the storm.”
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas, according to provincial disaster authorities.
The core of Surigae, or Bising as the storm is known locally, is not expected to hit land. But with a diameter of 500 km and wind speeds of 195 km per hour, parts of the eastern islands of Samar experienced flooding, while several communities lost power.
The first super typhoon of 2021 predicts a busy storm season for the region in the coming year, experts say.
“The first indications are that the 2021 typhoon season will be at least average, and possibly above average,” wrote American meteorologist Jeff Masters in a post on the Yale Climate Connections website, which reports daily on climate conditions.
Atmospheric scientists say data shows that storms called typhoons, cyclones or hurricanes in different parts of the world are getting stronger due to global warming.
“The fuel for these storms is warm oceans,” said Anne-Claire Fontan, a research assistant at the World Meteorological Organization based in Geneva.
“The global trend is for them to get stronger, and a higher percentage of the total storms will be stronger.”
A warmer atmosphere traps more moisture, allowing stormy winds to drop more rain. In particular, the water temperature in the Western Pacific is higher than the world average, making it fertile ground for mega storms such as Surigae. The region has more storms than any other part of the world, with more than 70% developing during the peak of the season between July and October.
Disaster officials said a 79-year-old man from Southern Leyte Province in the Philippines had been pronounced dead after being hit by a fallen tree and one person missing.
The Philippines sees about 20 tropical storms every year. Last year, the strongest typhoon of the year, Goni, hit the country with gusts of wind up to 310 km / h, killing 25 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 345,000.
Taiwan, meanwhile, hopes the storm will bring much-needed rain to ease a drought, with people taking to social media to welcome it. However, it is expected to move away from Taiwan to the Pacific Ocean, bringing rain only to the northern part of the island later this week.
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