Projects underway to protect Singapore
against floods
Published on Nov 07, 2013
4:43 PM
National water agency PUB will start 36 projects in the next 12 months, on top of the 170 on-going projects, to improve
Singapore's drainage system against heavy rain and floods. -- PHOTO: PUB
By Grace Chua
National water agency PUB will start 36 projects in the next 12 months, on top of the 170 on-going
projects, to improve Singapore's drainage system against heavy rain and floods.
On Thursday, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan posted a map of new and
ongoing projects on his Facebook page. These include drainage works at Chai Chee, and the widening and
deepening of major canals like the Alexandra and Rochor Canals.
The PUB will also put out a tender for the construction of a canal to divert stormwater from the upstream
end of the Stamford Canal, and is piloting a flood-forecasting system in the Marina Catchment area.
The Meteorological Service Singapore has predicted that there could be up to 20 per cent more rain than
usual in December and January, which are traditionally the year-end rainy season to begin with.
Philippines braces for super typhoon, the
strongest this year
Published on Nov 07, 2013
11:44 AM
Typhoon Haiyan is pictured in this NOAA satellite handout image taken on Nov 6, 2013 at 23:13 UTC (07:13 Singapore
time). Authorities grounded ferry servives and called in fishing boats on Thursday as the approaching super typhoon, the
most powerful to hit the western Pacific this year, gained strength on a path set for the central Philippines. -- PHOTO:
REUTERS
MANILA (REUTERS) - Authorities grounded ferry services and called in fishing boats on Thursday as an
approaching super typhoon, the most powerful to hit the western Pacific this year, gained strength on a
path set for the central Philippines.
With centre winds of 215 kph and gusts of up to 250 kph, typhoon Haiyan, rated a category-five storm, the
most severe, was moving west northwest at 30 kph in the Pacific Ocean. It was expected to make landfall
at mid-day on Friday between the central islands of Samar and Leyte.
"I have issued a call to prepare for the worst," said Ben Evardone, a member of Congress representing
Eastern Samar province, one of the areas likely to be hit.
"We have mobilised all LGUs (local government units) and all resources for any contingency. There were
already forced and pre-emptive evacuations in some danger areas," he said.
Thousands flee in Philippines as typhoon
nears
Published on Nov 07, 2013
4:11 PM
This image provided by the US Naval Research Lab shows Typhoon Haiyan taken by the Nexsat satellite on Thursday, Nov
7, 2013. Philippine officials said on Thursday that thousands of villagers, including those from a central province devastated
recently by an earthquake, are being evacuated as one of Asia's most powerful typhoons this year approaches. -- PHOTO:
AP
MANILA (AP) - Philippine officials said on Thursday that thousands of villagers, including those from a
central province devastated recently by an earthquake, are being evacuated as one of Asia's most powerful
typhoons this year approaches.
Typhoon Haiyan was already packing sustained winds of 215 kilometres (134 miles) per hour and
ferocious gusts of 250 kph (155 mph), and could pick up strength over the Pacific Ocean before it slams
into the eastern Philippine province of Eastern Samar on Friday, according to government forecasters.
Eduardo del Rosario, who heads the government's main disaster-response agency, said governors and
mayors were supervising the evacuation of thousands of residents away from landslide- and flood-prone
communities in several provinces where the typhoon is expected to pass.
President Benigno Aquino III has ordered officials to aim for zero casualties, a goal often broken in an
archipelago lashed by about 20 storms each year, most of them deadly and destructive. Haiyan is the 24th
such storm to hit the Philippines this year.
World's strongest typhoon swirls towards
Philippines
Published on Nov 07, 2013
7:57 PM
Residents of Legazpi city in Albay province, south of Manila, are evacuated on Thursday, Nov 7, 2013, ahead of a super
typhoon that was strengthening in the Pacific Ocean. The world's most powerful typhoon this year gained strength on
Thursday as it swirled towards the Philippines, forcing mass evacuations across a vast swathe of the disaster-weary nation. -PHOTO: AFP
MANILA (AFP) - The world's most powerful typhoon this year gained strength on Thursday as it swirled
towards the Philippines, forcing mass evacuations across a vast swathe of the disaster-weary nation.
Authorities warned more than 12 million people were at risk from Typhoon Haiyan, which was generating
wind gusts exceeding 330 kilometres an hour and set to hit on Friday morning.
"This is a very dangerous typhoon, local officials know where the vulnerable areas are and have given
instructions on evacuations," state weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar said.
"There are not too many mountains on its path to deflect the force of impact, making it more dangerous."
Strongest typhoon of the year slams
Philippines; expert warns of "catastrophic
damage"
Published on Nov 08, 2013
7:52 AM
A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Typhoon Haiyan over the
Philippines on Nov 7, 2013 at 22:30 UTC (Nov 8 at 6:30 Singapore time). The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center
shortly before Typhoon Haiyan's landfall said its maximum sustained winds were 314 kilometres per hour (195 mph), with
gusts up to 379 kilometres per hour. -- PHOTO: AP
MANILA (AFP/AP) - One of the most intense typhoons ever recorded tore into the Philippines on
Friday, triggering flash floods and ripping down buildings as millions of people huddled indoors.
Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central island of Samar, about 600 kilometres southeast of Manila,
at 4:40am local time (2040 GMT Thursday) and was travelling quickly northwest, state meteorologist
Romeo Cajulis told AFP.
President Benigno Aquino had on Thursday warned his countrymen to make all possible preparations for
Haiyan, which was packing monster wind gusts of nearly 380 kilometres (235 miles) an hour as it
approached the Philippines.
“To our local officials, your constituents are facing a serious peril. Let us do all we can while (Haiyan) has
not yet hit land,” Aquino said in a nationally televised address.
“We can minimise the effects of this typhoon if we help each other. Let us remain calm, especially in
buying our primary needs, and in moving to safer places.” Haiyan had maximum sustained winds as it
approached the Philippines on Friday morning of 315 kilometres an hour, and gusts of 379 kilometres an
hour, according to the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre.
The Philippine state weather service, which typically gives lower wind readings, said the maximum gusts
on Friday morning were 275 kilometres an hour. But even that reading would easily make Haiyan the
world’s strongest typhoon this year, according to David Michael Padua, a meteorologist with the Weather
Philippines Foundation, a storm monitoring organisation that runs the www.weather.com.phwebsite.
A prominent American meteorologist, Dr Jeff Masters, wrote onwww.wunderground.com that Haiyan was
one of the most intense typhoons ever recorded. He warned of catastrophic damage.
Typhoon Haiyan's wind strength at landfall had been expected to beat out Hurricane Camille, which was
305 kilometres per hour (190 mph) at landfall in the United States 1969, Dr Masters said. The only tiny
bright side is that it's a fast-moving storm, so flooding from heavy rain - which usually causes the most
deaths from typhoons in the Philippines - may not be as bad, he said.
"The wind damage should be the most extreme in Phillipines history," he said.
(Crisis Map for Super Typhoon Haiyan)
Aquino warned areas within the expected 600-kilometre typhoon front would be exposed to severe
flooding as well as devastating winds, while coastal areas may see waves six metres (20 feet) high.
In the eastern coastal city of Tacloban, one of the first areas to be hit, streets were flooded and some
buildings were torn down, according to footage broadcast on ABS CBN television on Friday morning.
More than 125,000 people in the most vulnerable areas had been moved to evacuation centres before
Haiyan hit, according to the civil defence office, and millions of others braced for the typhoon in their
homes.
Authorities said schools in the storm’s path were closed, ferry services suspended and fishermen ordered to
secure their vessels.
In the capital of Manila, which was not directly in the typhoon’s path but still expected to feel some of its
impact, many schools were also closed.
Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and other carriers announced the suspension of hundreds of flights,
mostly domestic but also some international.
Cajulis said Haiyan was travelling quickly, at 39 kilometres an hour, and would travel across the country
towards the South China Sea throughout Friday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
State weather forecaster Glaize Escullar said on Thursday Haiyan was expected to hit areas still recovering
from a devastating storm in 2011 and from a 7.1-magnitude quake last month. They include the central
island of Bohol, the epicentre of the earthquake that killed 222 people, where at least 5,000 survivors are
still living in tents while waiting for new homes.
Other vulnerable areas are the port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on the southern island of Mindanao,
where flash floods induced by Tropical Storm Washi killed more than 1,000 people in December 2011.
The Philippines is battered by an average of 20 major storms or typhoons each year, many of them deadly,
but scientists have said climate change may be increasing their ferocity and frequency. The Philippines
endured the world’s strongest storm of 2012, when Typhoon Bopha left about 2,000 people dead or
missing on Mindanao island in December.