Philippines Mobilizes Armed Forces for Second Storm in a Week

The Philippines mobilized its armed forces as Supertyphoon Parma headed for the country, threatening more heavy rains a week after Tropical Storm Ketsana devastated parts of Manila in Luzon and left 277 people dead.

The Navy has assembled a task force in northern Luzon, where Philippine forecasters expect Parma to make landfall on Oct. 3, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said in a phone interview. The Air Force will send trucks and rubber boats to facilitate evacuations when local officials request them, Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerardo Zamudio said.

Parma’s winds increased to 241 kilometers (150 miles) per hour today, according to the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center, making it a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It’s forecast to get stronger before making landfall, according to the center.

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