Philippines to evacuate 2,500 villages ahead of Severe Storm Toraji

Manila: The residents of 2,500 villages were ordered to evacuate their homes as Severe Tropical Storm Toraji approached the northern Philippines, the...

Manila: The residents of 2,500 villages were ordered to evacuate their homes as Severe Tropical Storm Toraji approached the northern Philippines, the government said Sunday, after three massive cyclones battered the country in less than a month.

Nearly 700,000 people are still sheltering at evacuation centres or with relatives after their homes were destroyed by tropical cyclones Trami, Kong-rey and Yinxing, according to government figures given to AFP.

The previous trio of storms killed 159 people and with Toraji due to make landfall on Monday, people living in 2,500 villages across the northern regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera have been ordered to evacuate, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.

"The soil in those areas is now very saturated and the risk of landslides is very high," Remulla said in a briefing on Sunday.

"We cannot stress it enough, the evacuation orders are important."