PH: Typhoon Approaching
John Quinones
_________________________________________________________________
15 missing, thousands flee as typhoon hits Philippines
### BACOLOR, Philippines: Fifteen fishermen were missing and several
thousand people began fleeing to higher ground Thursday as Typhoon
Angela hit the eastern Philippines.
President Fidel Ramos placed all military and police units ``on red
alert'' to enable them to conduct ``disaster preparedness, prevention,
mitigation and management functions''.
Weathermen said Angela, packing maximum sustained winds of 205
kilometres (127 miles) an hour, was moving west and could hit Manila
on Friday.
Evacuations were already under way in this region north of Manila,
which has suffered the brunt of the damage from typhoons in recent
years due to mammoth deposits of debris from Pinatubo volcano which
thunder down to towns and villages during heavy rain.
The typhoon flogged its way past Camarines Norte province in the east,
where local authorities were evacuating residents of coastal villages,
provincial governor Roy Padilla said on DZXL radio station.
He said there were no immediate reports of casualties there.
However 15 fishermen went missing while two were rescued off Homonhon
island in the eastern Philippines, the Coast Guard in the eastern city
of Tacloban said.
``Let's make sure that our preparedness programs are not just showcase
activities,'' Mr Ramos said in a statement. Everyone ``must realise
the need to take the necessary precautionary measures in times of
disaster.''
Angela is the 14th typhoon to hit the country this year, The annual
average is 20.
But 1995 has been a particularly bad year.
The combined death toll of 259 from tropical storms Sybil and Zack,
which both hit last month, have already equalled the total for the
whole of 1994.
About 550 families from Bacolor, most of which was buried by previous
mudflows from Pinatubo, were moved to nearby Lubao town overnight,
provincial governor Lito Lapid told reporters.
The governor of nearby Zambales province, Amor Deloso, ordered several
thousand families evacuated from their homes beside the Bucao,
Balin-Baquero and Santo Tomas-Marella rivers. These areas are also in
danger of mudflows from Pinatubo, he said.
In nearby Pulilan town, a group of villagers armed with scythes
hurriedly harvested a half-hectare rice farm, a day ahead of schedule.
``This is worth 40 sacks of rice and I heard this is the biggest storm
to hit. It would all go to waste if we don't hurry,'' said Severino
Macapagal, 43. _ AFP
Asia