In terms of strength, it is the equivalent of a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane. After the landfill fell, Gony was downgraded to a hurricane, with a constant wind speed of 215 kph (140 miles per hour).
The governor of the province, Al Francis Bichara, said four people had died so far, including a tree bark and a five-year-old washed away after the river overflowed. The Disaster Management Agency could not confirm the report.
Video footage on news channels and social media showed rivers overflowing and some dykes destroyed, villages submerged in Bikol.
Authorities in the Philippines evacuated about a million people to safer places as Goni, known locally as Rulie, approached the eastern province. On Sunday morning he landed in Catanduanes and Albe in the Bikol area.
The Philippine Meteorological Bureau said “devastating violent winds and heavy rains from heavy rains” are expected to win in the Bikol provinces as well as parts of Quezon, Laguna and Batangas, south of the capital Manila.
The capital, Manila, is currently on track for the country’s 18th tropical storm Goni this year, with the weather bureau predicting “heavy” rain and thunderstorms in the city.
Weather forecaster Lori Della Cruz told a radio station that a third landfill would strike the province of Quezon the day after the fall.
Additional storm warnings have been issued, while officials have also reminded people living in migration centers to monitor social distance as the spread of coronavirus is also a concern.
Dozens of international and domestic flights have been canceled as the Civil Aviation Authority has ordered a one-day closure of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila’s main gateway.
Goni is the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines, Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013.
Tropical Cyclone Atsani hit a distance of 1,200 km east of the Philippines at 7 pm on Saturday. (4545 was..6 miles) and was significantly weaker than Gony, but Pagasa said it is likely to be stronger from Sunday and Monday.