Thousands of people sought shelter and ports were closed in the Philippines, officials said, as the disaster-weary country was hit by another typhoon – the fourth in less than a month.

Typhoon Toraji struck near the town of Dilasag, about 220 km northeast of the capital, Manila, the national weather agency said.

“We are facing strong winds and heavy rain. Some trees have been toppled and electricity has been cut since yesterday,” Merwina Pableo, head of civil defense in the town of Dinalungan, near Dilasag, said yesterday.

Rescuers said about 7,000 people had been displaced from coastal areas as well as flood- and landslide-prone areas of Aurora and Isabela, the first two provinces hit before Toraji headed south. mountainous interior of the main island of Luzon.

In total, the government ordered the evacuation of 2,500 villages on Sunday, although the national disaster office does not have the total number of people evacuated yesterday.

In the Dilasag landing zone, teacher Glenn Balanag, 31, filmed the onslaught of howling 130 km/h winds, which violently shook the coconut trees around his rural home.

“Large trees are falling and we have heard that the roofs of some houses have been damaged. The rain continues and a nearby river is rising,” he said.

The national weather agency has warned of strong winds and “intense to torrential” rainfall exceeding 200mm in the north of the country, as well as a “moderate to high risk of storm surge” – giant waves that could reach 3 m high on the north coast.

Schools and government offices have been closed in areas expected to be hardest hit by the latest typhoon.

Nearly 700 passengers were stranded at ports in or near the typhoon’s path, according to a Coast Guard tally yesterday, with the weather service warning that “sea travel is risky for all types and tonnages of vessels.” .

“All sailors should remain in port or, if en route, seek shelter or safe harbor as soon as possible until the winds and waves calm,” the text adds.

Aurora and Isabela officials said the main impact appeared to be falling trees and power pylons that blocked major roads.

“I don’t want to send people to investigate yet. I don’t want them to be surprised by powerful gusts,” said Constante Foronda, Isabela’s disaster response chief.

The typhoon is expected to hit the South China Sea yesterday evening, weather services said.

Aurora provincial disaster response chief Elson Egargue said he sent crews to clear roads after Toraji left the province early in the afternoon.

After Toraji, a tropical depression could also hit the region as early as Thursday evening, said meteorologist Veronica Torres.

Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, could also threaten the Philippines next week, she added.

Toraji follows three cyclones in less than a month that killed 159 people.

Typhoon Yinxing hit the country’s northern coast on Thursday, damaging homes and buildings.

A 12-year-old girl was crushed during an incident.

Before that, severe tropical storm Trami and super typhoon Kong-rey together killed 158 people, the national disaster agency said, with most of the death toll attributed to Trami.

Around 20 major storms and typhoons hit the archipelago or its surrounding waters each year.

A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are forming closer to shore, intensifying faster and lasting longer over land due to climate change. -AFP