By DPA,
Manila : Hundreds of people were evacuated Friday as super typhoon Parma moved closer to the northern Philippines’ main island of Luzon, less than a week after storm Ketsana wreaked havoc in the capital and outlying areas.
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said local officials in the northern provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga supervised the evacuation of residents living near river banks and low-lying areas that could be flooded when Parma hits the area on Saturday, as predicted.
Teodoro warned residents that those who refused to be evacuated should not expect to be rescued if they are trapped in flood waters.
“Do not expect that we would risk lives in order to rescue them (residents who refused to evacuate),” he said.
The weather bureau said Parma, with sustained winds of 195 km per hour (kmph) and gusts of up to 230 kmph, has maintained its west-north-west course and was expected to make a landfall in the north-eastern province of Aurora Saturday noon.
The weather bureau has placed at least 32 eastern and northern provinces on typhoon alert.
On Friday, government relief agencies were taking advantage of the lull in bad weather to rush relief supplies to more than three million people affected by storm Ketsana.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council said the death toll from Ketsana rose to 293 with at least 42 people still missing.
Several areas in Manila and the nearby provinces of Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan remained flooded due to the record rainfall caused by Ketsana.
The agency said the estimated damage to agriculture and infrastructure was 5.10 billion pesos ($108.16 million).
Nathaniel Cruz, chief weather forecaster, said Parma would bring more rain in Manila and outlying provinces that could hamper relief efforts.
Ketsana dumped more than one month’s worth of rain on Manila in just nine hours on Sep 26.