Super typhoon Utor landed Philippines, 1 person died, 23 people were missing

Super typhoon Utor (Vietnam called the No. 7 storm) yesterday landed in northern Philippines, killing 1 person and 23 missing. The storm also blown away many homes, knocking down power lines and causing landslides in remote villages.

After strengthening in the Pacific, Typhoon Utor attacked areas north of Luzon Island, the main island of the Philippines, around 3 am yesterday local time.

With winds of up to 200km / h, Typhoon Utor was the strongest storm to attack the Philippines this year and officials warned of the worst.

'This is the strongest wind storm since the beginning of this year,' said Samuel Duran, a government weather forecaster.

Philippine officials said the initial figures indicate that one person was killed and 23 fishermen were missing because of storm Utor.

'They went out before we announced there was a storm formed , ' said spokeswoman Reynaldo Balido from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Coordination Committee.

There are also concerns about isolated villages and towns isolated by super typhoons. Contact networks for these areas were lost and many roads were blocked by landslides.

Television images from the province of Aurora, located along the east coast of Luzon island, show that Utor storms caused landslides, toppling trees and speeding the roof.

Picture 1 of Super typhoon Utor landed Philippines, 1 person died, 23 people were missing
Simulate the path of Typhoon Utor.The red circle is the location of Typhoon Utor on August 12.

The head of the provincial bureau, Aurora, Josefina Timoteo, said the agency had received reports of more than 600 houses and 12 schools in the damaged town of Dinalungan.

Alex Uy, a civilian in the northern city of Baguio, said many places north of Luzon island had lost power.

'The wind is so strong that it hurls power lines. There is no electricity in our office, we have to use transmitters, ' the official said.

By the afternoon of the local time, Typhoon Utor still swept Luzon island on the way to the East Sea. By early afternoon, Typhoon Utor had entered the South China Sea, according to the Philippine weather agency.

In the capital of Manila, about 200km away from the storm to the east, Utor storm also caused heavy rain on the night of 11/8 but no flood happened. Due to the forecast of heavy rain, many schools across Manila closed on August 12.

Every year, the Philippines suffers from about 20 storms, killing hundreds.

More than 1,000 people were killed when Typhoon Bopha attacked the Philippines in December last year, becoming the world's most devastating storm in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Center for Hydrometeorology Forecast of Vietnam said that super typhoon Utor has increased when entering the East Sea.

At 1:00 on August 13, Vietnam time, the location of the center of the storm is about 18.4 degrees Vi Bac; 116.8 Kinh Dong, about 520 km from Hoang Sa archipelago to the East North East. The strongest winds in the area near the storm center are strong at level 13, 14, level 15, level 16.

Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Center for Meteorological and Hydrological Forecasting said that Vietnam and international meteorological stations are closely monitoring the path and evolution of this storm.

After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Utor is expected to threaten mainland China. According to Accuweather, Typhoon Utor can land in southern China, from Hong Kong to the north of Hainan Island, around the evening of 14/8 local time.