Strong winds and high waves hit the eastern Philippines on Monday, making it the strongest typhoon ever recorded in April, crossing the Pacific Ocean, killing one man and causing flooding in low-lying communities, disaster officials said.
The National Meteorological Bureau issued a strong wind warning and heavy rainfall on Monday, saying that “destructive typhoon force 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 agencies.
The core of Surigae, or Bising, as the storm is known locally, is not expected to hit the ground. But with a diameter of 500 km and winds reaching 195 km per hour, parts of the islands of eastern Samar suffered floods, while several communities lost power.
The first super typhoon in 2021 foreshadows a stormy season for the region next year, experts say.
“Early indications are that the 2021 typhoon season will be at least average in activity and possibly above average,” wrote American meteorologist Jeff Masters in a post on the Yale Climate Connections website, which reports daily on weather conditions.
Scientists in the atmosphere say that the data show that storms, called typhoons, cyclones or hurricanes in different parts of the world, are becoming stronger due to global warming.
“The fuel for these storms is the warm oceans,” said Anne-Claire Fontan, a scientific officer at the World Meteorological Organization based in Geneva.
“The global trend is that they are getting stronger and stronger and a higher percentage of all storms will be stronger.”
A warmer atmosphere retains more moisture, allowing the wind forced by the wind to throw more rain. In particular, the water temperature in the western Pacific Ocean is higher than the global average, making it fertile ground for mega storms such as Surigae. The region sees more storms than any other part of the world, with over 70% of them developing at the peak of the season between July and October.
Disaster officials said a 79-year-old man from the southern Leyte province of the Philippines was confirmed dead after being hit by a fallen tree and one person was missing.
The Philippines sees about 20 tropical storms a year. Last year, the strongest typhoon of the year, Goni, hit the country with gusts of up to 310 km per hour, killing 25 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 345,000.
Meanwhile, Taiwan hopes the storm will bring much-needed rain to alleviate the drought, with people going to social media to welcome it. However, it is expected to move away from Taiwan to the Pacific, bringing rain only to the northern part of the island later this week.
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