MANILA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Severe tropical storm Atsani crossed Batanes, an island province in the northernmost tip of the Philippines, on Friday morning, the country's state weather bureau said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Atsani crossed Misanga Island in Itbayat town in Batanes province at 7:50 a.m., with sustained winds of 95 km per hour and gusts of up to 115 km per hour.
Atsani, the 19th tropical cyclone to sweep the Philippines this year, will continue main westward to west-northwestward and pass over the sea off the southern coast of China's Taiwan province within 12 hours, the bureau said in its latest bulletin.
Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco told local radio DZRH in an interview that the province is experiencing strong winds and heavy rains. There are no reported casualties or damage so far, she added.
Atsani hit the Philippines as the country reels from the trail of destruction brought by Super Typhoon Goni on Sunday that left at least 20 dead.
Typhoons and tropical storms regularly batter the Philippines from June through December, claiming hundreds of lives and cause billions of dollars in damages.
Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world, including active volcanoes, frequent earthquakes, and an average of 20 typhoons a year, causing floods and landslides.
The Philippines lost 463 billion pesos (roughly 9.56 billion U.S. dollars) in damages to natural disasters from 2010 to 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Enditem
