By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Residents in northern Philippine provinces have been warned of possible flash floods, landslides and storm surges as the fourth typhoon this year approached the archipelago Saturday.
Typhoon Noul – known locally as Dodong -- is forecast to move west-northwestward at 20 kilometers per hour and make landfall over the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan early Sunday morning, according to the state weather agency.
"Residents in low-lying and mountainous areas of provinces with public storm warning signals are alerted against possible flash floods and landslides," the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said in a severe weather bulletin Saturday.
Indicating the possibility of storm surges of up to 2.5 meters in Camarines Sur, Quezon and Isabela, it said people “must refrain from staying in beaches there for the meantime" – in addition to avoiding sailing in the area’s seas.
The agency reported "heavy to intense" rainfall within the 200-kilometer diameter of the storm, which continued packing maximum sustained winds of 160 kilometers per hour near its center and gustiness of up to 195 kilometers per hour.
"Communities there have that remaining lead time to prepare accordingly," weather forecaster Fernando Cada said.
According to the bulletin, houses and other structures in areas under the warning were likely to suffer "very light" to "heavy."
Noul is expected to leave the Philippines on Sunday afternoon through Cagayan province.
The Philippines suffers around 20 typhoons and storms each year, many of them deadly.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan -- one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded – struck the country’s central islands, leaving more than 8,000 people dead, missing and injured.
