Typhoon Koppu Takes Two Lives & Displaces 16000 More In the Philippines

Typhoon Koppu, known as Typhoon Lando in the Philippines, slowed to a standstill on Sunday as it nears the coast of the northwestern Luzon Island. The fierce winds left at least two people dead, and another 16,000 displaced villagers in the region, with strong and heavy rains, although the catastrophic rainfall of 20 to 40 inches has not yet arrived.

NBC News reported that Army Troops and the local police were deployed to rescue residents trapped in flooded areas in the province of  Aurora early on Sunday, where the typhoon made landfall.

Howling winds knocked down trees and electricity posts, and already left nine provinces without electricity. Floods and small landslides also made 25 roads and bridges impassable, leading to suspension of dozens of flights and sea voyages. Schools in several provinces, as well as in Metro Manila, are also cancelled Monday.

Among the provinces ravaged by Koppu is Nueva Ecija, a rice-growing province where floodwaters already swamped farmlands during what is supposed to be harvest season.

The storm will not clear out for at least until Wednesday, and despite the number of already displaced citizens, the full toll of the storm won't be clear for at least several more days as the areas affected most were relatively sparse in population and have already been cut off from communication.

Kate Marshall, spokeswoman for Red Cross in Luzon, said that right now the "main concerns are to be able to get out there and visit (remote) communities and try and work out a way to help communities that have been cut off, with what ever means we have at our disposal, and to make sure that our volunteers and staff stay safe as well."

Koppu, which sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, is classified as a super typhoon just below Category 5 status. The winds have already weakened considerably. However, Mashable reported that Koppu still poses a deadly threat due to the slow movement and powerful thunderstorms that can drop several inches of rain in as fast as an hour.

Koppu is expected to be declared a tropical storm by late Monday. However, computer model projections and official forecasts show that there is still potential for devastating amounts of rainfall in Northwestern Luzon, before the storm moves northward to Taiwan by the middle of the week.

The Guardian noted that Koppu, which is Japanese for "cup" is the 12th storm to hit the Philippines this year, but it certainly won't be the last. The Southeast Asian country is battered by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, and is said to be one of the world's most disaster-prone countries.

In 2013, one of the most ferocious storms recorded, Typhoon Haiyan, barreled through the central region, leveling entire towns and leaving over 7,000 people missing or dead.