Typhoon Parma skirts along Philippine north coast

Typhoon Parma slammed in to the northern coast of Luzon this weekend at a Category 2 strength. The storm dropped from a Cat 4 to a Cat 2 before making landfall and then the eye of the storm essentially followed the northern coast just slightly inland.

Even with the lower intensity of Parma, this storm still bnrough death and flooding.

Typhoon Parma Hovers, Threatening Philippine Slides, Floods (Bloomberg)

Typhoon Parma crashed through the northern Philippines and then unexpectedly hovered, increasing the threat of landslides and raising concern Manila will flood anew a week after it was drenched by Tropical Storm Ketsana.

Parma killed at least 15 people, 12 of them in landslides in the mountain province of Benguet. It also cut off power supply, blew roofs off houses and buildings and ruined rice and other crops.

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Parma was about 450 kilometers north of Manila, according to the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Wind speed was 120 kilometers per hour, little changed during the day. It was 185 kilometers an hours before it made landfall in Cagayan province, northeastern Luzon, on Oct. 3.

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Parma will “remain almost stationary” for as many as three days, the Philippine weather bureau said yesterday morning. Northeastern Luzon will have stormy weather while the rest of the island, where Manila is located, will have anything from rains and gusty winds to rainshowers and thunderstorms, it said.

Parma is currently a tropical storm woth 65 MPH sustained winds. Current forecasts indicate that Parma will head towards Taiwan and will most likely remain a tropical storm although further strengthening is possible. Taiwan is taking precautions in preparation of this approaching storm.

Taiwan takes early actions against approaching typhoon (Xinhua)

Taiwan is on high alert and taking early actions including pre-storm evacuations in expectation of typhoon Parma, barely two months after typhoon Morakot devastated the island.

More than 1,200 villagers from four counties including Nantou, Chiayi, Kaohsiung and Pingtung have been evacuated as of 1 p.m. on Sunday, in case of mudslides triggered by Parma. These people were sheltered in safer places, local authorities said