Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) made landfall on the southeastern tip of Luzon in the Philippines on Sunday, 1 November, All Saints Day, one of the holy days celebrated by the country when they honor their dead. Typhoon Rolly, which peaked at 265 kph (considered super typhoon-strength) with 2 to 3 meters of storm surges, unleashed heavy rains and damaging winds.

At least seventeen people died, and more than two million people were affected as the typhoon caused heavy rainfall, flooding, landslides, as well as lahar from the Mayon Volcano in the Bicol region. About a million residents were evacuated. It also caused power outages due to damaged power and transmission lines.

The Philippine Government is undertaking massive search and rescue operations across wide parts of the country. The preemptive disaster mitigation measures undertaken at the national and local levels have greatly reduced the deaths and destruction from the super typhoon.

Philippine Ambassador to Denmark H.E. Leo M. Herrera-Lim conveyed, “I am deeply saddened by the loss of lives and the widespread destruction of property. I thank the people of Denmark for their messages of sympathy and solidarity with Filipinos. I believe in the resiliency of the Filipinos and their inner strength to rise from yet another challenge.”

The Philippines is visited by an average of twenty typhoons a year. With manifest climate change, the country has seen during the past fifteen years that typhoons coming at the last quarter of the year to be more vicious and destructive.