A powerful typhoon nears the Philippines, with many shelters still crammed after a recent storm

MANILA, Philippines -- Villagers successful bluish Philippine provinces were forced to evacuate connected Wednesday arsenic a powerful typhoon approached nan federation still reeling from a recent large wind that near astatine slightest 182 dormant and missing and emergency shelters crammed pinch displaced people.

Typhoon Kong-rey was past tracked 350 kilometers (217 miles) eastbound of bluish Cagayan province, pinch sustained winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph) and gusting up to 230 kph (143 mph). Forecasters said it could further fortify astatine sea.

It was blowing northwestward and was predicted to walk adjacent nan northernmost Philippine state of Batanes earlier slamming into southeastern Taiwan connected Thursday.

"We are still recovering from nan 2 erstwhile typhoon and large wind and present we spell again,” Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco told The Associated Press.

"We’re going astir now to supervise nan forced removal of people, specially those whose houses were severely damaged by nan past storm,” Cayco said.

Elsewhere crossed nan bluish Philippines, much than 300,000 group displaced past week by Tropical Storm Trami, remained successful emergency shelters arsenic nan caller typhoon approached, Office of Civil Defense officials said.

Forecasters besides warned of a “life-threatening large wind surge reaching 2 to 3 meters (6.5 to 9.8 feet)” that could beryllium whipped up by Kong-rey successful low-lying coasts of Batanes and nan adjacent Babuyan cluster of islands.

All ships and cargo vessels were advised to stay successful ports and those astatine oversea should activity shelter aliases safe harbor arsenic soon arsenic imaginable until winds and waves subside.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who oversees disaster-response efforts, ordered nan forced removal of group successful high-risk areas threatened by Kong-rey, which is locally called Leon.

"We ever purpose for zero casualty successful nan arena of disasters, truthful we powerfully impulse nan nationalist to heed our protocols,” Teodoro said.

While Kong-rey was expected to rustle disconnected nan bluish Philippines, its extended rainfall set pinch a width of much than 600 kilometers (373 miles) could lash nan full main bluish region of Luzon, nan country’s astir populous, nan authorities said.

Tropical large wind Trami, which blew retired of nan bluish Philippines past Friday, near astatine slightest 145 dormant and 37 missing mostly successful wide flooding and landslides and affected much than 7 cardinal group successful astir 11,000 mostly agrarian villages, nan government’s disaster-mitigation agency said.

More than 111,000 houses were damaged, galore inundated by floods and swollen rivers. Trami dumped up to 2 months’ worthy of rainfall successful conscionable 24 hours successful immoderate regions, mounting disconnected flash floods that swept distant cars and trapped group connected their roofs.

At nan tallness of past week’s onslaught, officials successful nan hard-hit region of Bicol, southeast of nan superior of Manila, appealed frantically for much rescue boats to prevention thousands of villagers trapped successful rising floodwaters.

About 20 storms and typhoons batter nan disaster-prone Philippines each year. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, 1 of nan strongest recorded tropical cyclones successful nan world, near much than 7,300 group dormant aliases missing, flattened full villages and caused respective cargo ships to ran aground inland and smash into houses and group successful nan cardinal Philippines.