Philippines: Supertyphoon destroys old church, houses, infrastructure

Manila: Tropical storm Kong-Rey (local name: Leon) recently left a path of destruction across Batanes, an island in northern Philippines.

Early reports stated that the "super typhoon" destroyed houses and structures, including the Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Mayan Parish Church sa Sta. Lucia, Itbayat, Batanes, one of the oldest churches in the province.

The construction of the church building was started in 1872. It was completed in 1888.

Just a month after the devastation of severe tropical Storm Trami (Kristine), the island faced Kong-Rey’s brutal blow from powerful winds and rains that damaged infrastructure, uprooted trees, and caused widespread power outages.

The powerful storm, packing winds of up to 240 kph, battered the province with heavy rain and strong winds. The strong typhoon is currently battering the island of Taiwan.

State of calamity

The storm’s impact was severe enough to prompt local authorities to declare a state of calamity in Batanes, enabling a quicker allocation of relief resources to affected residents. Although power restoration is underway, the storm highlights the region’s vulnerability to extreme weather events due to its geographic position.

Signal No. 5 was raised over Itbayat and Basco, as the typhoon brought "violent conditions" to the region. The rest of the province was under Signal No. 4.

Damage assessment

The damage caused by Kong-Rey still being assessed, but it is expected to be significant.

The province is still recovering from the impact of Typhoon Trami, which caused 600 million pesos in damages and led to the declaration of a state of calamity.

The back-to-back typhoons have left Batanes residents struggling to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

As the province continues to grapple with the aftermath of these powerful storms, it is clear that climate change is posing a significant threat to its vulnerable communities.

Kong-Rey has maintained its peak strength, packing maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h and gusts up to 240 km/h, reported the Pagasa weather bureau.

Though it did not make landfall in Batanes, Kong-Rey still brought “violent conditions” to the area.

Forecasts indicate that by Thursday afternoon, Kong-Rey will make landfall along Taiwan's eastern coast, within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), with a potential downgrade to typhoon status as it interacts with Taiwan’s mountainous terrain, which is expected to weaken the system further.

After crossing Taiwan, Kong-Rey is projected to move toward the East China Sea, likely exiting the PAR on Thursday night or early Friday morning, November 1.

Despite Kong-Rey’s departure from Batanes, tropical cyclone wind signals remain active in several areas.