Evacuations, call for aid as Typhoon Usagi approaches Philippines

The Philippines ordered evacuations ahead of Typhoon Usagi on Wednesday, as the UN disaster office sought $32.9 million in aid for the country after storms that killed more than 150 people.

The national weather service said Usagi, the archipelago's fifth major storm in three weeks, was likely to make landfall on Thursday in Cagayan province on the northeast tip of main island Luzon.

Provincial civil defence chief Rueli Rapsing said mayors had been ordered to evacuate residents in vulnerable areas, by force if necessary.

"Under (emergency protocols), all the mayors must implement the forced evacuation, especially for susceptible areas," he told AFP over telephone, adding as many as 40,000 in the province lived in hazard-prone areas.

The successive storms have taken a toll on the resources of both the government and local households, the UN said late Tuesday.

About 210,000 of those most affected by recent flooding need support for "critical lifesaving and protection efforts over the next three months", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

"Typhoons are overlapping. As soon as communities attempt to recover from the shock, the next tropical storm is already hitting them again," UN Philippines Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said.

"In this context, the response capacity gets exhausted and budgets depleted."

A sixth storm, Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently near Guam, is expected to hit the Philippines as early as next weekend.

Gonzalez urged "resource partners to support the UN effort and fill "critical funding gaps".