MANILA, Philippines — The indomitable Typhoon Yinxing, a formidable force of nature, unleashed chaos upon the northern Philippines before it finally receded into the vastness of the South China Sea, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. This tempest, locally dubbed Marce, struck with relentless intensity on Thursday, delivering torrential rains and uprooting trees while inundating villages and wreaking havoc on infrastructures. The consequences are stark: two airports left battered, serving as grim reminders of the calamity that has compounded the aftermath of a series of recent storms.
Though the crippling impact of Yinxing has yet to claim lives—an unexpected stroke of fortune amidst such devastation—its ferocity is unquestionable. The typhoon, which has been designated as the 13th major storm to sweep through this disaster-prone archipelago this year, was clocked with winds sustained at a staggering 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph) and gusts reaching up to 205 kph (127 mph).
As it traversed the South China Sea, nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Ilocos Norte, the storm’s relentless rains led to widespread flooding, causing officials in Cagayan province to evacuate over 40,000 residents to safer havens. The storm rendered houses uninhabitable, uprooted trees, and caused significant damage to facilities. In Batanes, the northernmost province, roofs were torn from homes, and essential domestic airport terminals suffered extensive damage.
As the dust begins to settle, more reports of devastation from landslides in two mountain towns have begun to filter through, but the catastrophic toll remains under evaluation as recovery efforts from previous storms—Typhoon Kong-rey and Tropical Storm Trami—are still in progress. Collectively, these earlier natural disasters claimed at least 151 lives and affected nearly 9 million people throughout the northern and central regions. The agricultural ramifications are immense, with over 14 billion pesos ($241 million) in crops and infrastructure reported lost.
Trami alone unleashed deluges equivalent to one to two months of rainfall in just one day, a staggering demonstration of nature’s potency. Batangas, one of the hardest-hit areas, grappled with flooding that led to 61 lost lives. Shockingly, as of Thursday, more than 630,000 individuals remain displaced due to the ongoing crisis, with 172,000 clinging to emergency shelters as the skies unleash Yinxing’s wrath upon the mountainous north once more.
In light of the ongoing humanitarian plight, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has opted to forgo his attendance at the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, choosing instead to dedicate his efforts to recovery operations within the beleaguered nation.
The Philippines, an archipelago infamous for its vulnerability to natural calamities, stands as a testament to the perils of residing in a seismically active zone, haunted by a legacy of destruction spanning decades. In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which left an astounding 7,300 lives either lost or missing, it’s evident that the specter of disasters—ranging from relentless typhoons to seismic upheavals—continues to loom ominously over this resilient nation.
