Typhoon Goni land warning unlikely

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services reported that as of Friday afternoon, Typhoon Goni was located 110 kilometers (68 miles) east of Calayan island, with maximum wind speeds of 170 kilometers per hour (106 mph) and gusts of 205 kilometers per hour.

This picture shows waves near the Wushih harbor in Yilan as typhoon Goni approaches in eastern Taiwan on August . 22, 2015.

The eastern province of Fujian, which faces Taiwan across a strait, has evacuated almost 5,000 people involved in the fishing industry from coastal areas while 10,490 boats have returned to port to avoid impact from the typhoon.

Six people died in the highlands of Benguet and Mountain provinces after they were buried in rocks and mud. The slow-moving typhoon is forecast to start blowing away from the country on Sunday, passing east of Taiwan and heading toward Okinawa, Japan, early next week.

Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense in Ilocos Norte province confirmed that two people – including a motorist who a tree fell on – were killed while another went missing, according to GMA News.

Up to 17 small-scale gold miners may have been in those shanties, but it was not clear whether they left the village amid the stormy weather, he said. Storm alerts were lifted in some of the Philippines’ northern provinces. Hundreds of families were moved to storm shelters in the north and authorities scrapped classes in several towns in metropolitan Manila and nearby provinces due to flooding and danger from the howling wind.

Weather forecasters said Goni would be out of the region of the Philippines by Monday, improving conditions in the capital Manila, where some workplaces and schools had been closed because of rainfall.

Areas at risk included the hot spring town of Wulai that was devastated by Typhoon Soudelor just two weeks ago.