A powerful typhoon left three dead and threatened to bring heavy rains and winds to the heavily-populated Philippine capital as it dragged its way across the archipelago yesterday, spoiling the Christmas holidays.
Typhoon Nock-Ten, which made landfall on the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Sunday, is forecast to move westward toward the country’s heartland, packing winds of 215kph.
A couple were reported killed by a flood while an elderly man was crushed by a falling wall, the governor of the storm-ravaged eastern province of Albay Al Bichara said on local TV.
Photo: AFP
More than 383,000 people have fled their homes while more than 80 domestic and international flights have been canceled, the civil defense office said, as the unusually late typhoon marred Christmas celebrations in the largely Christian nation.
The government weather station said Nock-Ten was moving northwest at 20kph and was expected to affect Manila and the surrounding area yesterday.
The bustling metropolis of about 13 million was eerily quiet the day after Christmas with the usual holiday revelers staying indoors as the storm approached.
The civil defense office said the capital could see “heavy to intense rains, flash floods and severe winds,” with rescue boats ready to be deployed in case rivers overflow.
“Our local disaster councils are on red alert. We have pre-positioned relief supplies and rescue and [road] clearing equipment in Metro Manila,” said Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the country’s disaster monitoring council.
The coast guard on Sunday ordered the beaches south of Manila to be cleared of holidaymakers by yesterday, while residents of the capital’s seaside slums were warned to leave their homes.
The storm previously cut off electricity to millions and forced government agencies to order evacuations of whole communities in the eastern region of Bicol which felt the brunt of the storm on Christmas day.
In the Bicol town of Ligao, many streets and farms were in ankle-deep water while some homes remained caked in mud left by flooding.
Masseuse Erna Angela Pintor, 20, said she and her family spent a sleepless Christmas in fear as the strong winds ripped off part of their roof.
Their neighbors living near the river bank sought refuge in their home as the waters rose to their chests, she recalled, though her own family was luckier.
“The floods only reached to our knees. Thank goodness the current wasn’t that strong,” she said.
“This was supposed to be a celebration, but we cannot celebrate. This is a sad Christmas for us. No one [in the family] died, but a lot of our neighbors’ homes were washed away,” she added.
Marasigan said hundreds of people in Bicol celebrated Christmas day in evacuation centers where many had to make do with emergency food packs.
Some local officials had offered roast pigs — the traditional Filipino holiday fare — to entice constituents to go to evacuation centers, Marasigan said.
“Government workers in the Bicol region, particularly those involved in disaster relief and operations, are working round-the-clock even on Christmas Day as typhoon Nina [the local name of Nock-Ten] maintains its strength and continues to pose a serious threat to Bicol region,” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Martin Andanar said in a statement.
About 20 typhoons or lesser storms strike the Philippines each year, routinely killing hundreds of people, and Bicol is often the first region to be hit.
Mammoth tsunami-like waves devastated the city of Tacloban and nearby areas when super typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines in November 2013, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.
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