Residents assess the damage brought by typhoon Nona at Barangay Pigcale, Legazpi City, Albay on Tuesday. Wide areas of the central Philippines plunged into darkness as ‘Nona’ barreled into the coconut-growing region, causing severe damage in infrastructure and agriculture. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Nine people were killed and hundreds spent the night huddled on their roofs in the central Philippines as floods generated by a powerful typhoon inundated villages, disaster officials said on Wednesday.
Typhoon Nona (international name: Melor) had paralyzed Manila by late Tuesday, with floodwaters chest-deep in some areas disrupting train services and causing traffic gridlock on major roads. Five people were listed as missing.
The typhoon was about 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Mindoro island, just to the south of Manila, with winds at its center of 130 kph (80 mph).
Volunteers pack relief rations at a DSWD warehouse in Pasay City, before distribution to Nona-affected families in central Philippines on Tuesday. DSWD listed a total of 22,897 families who are currently staying in evacuation centers in Regions V and VII. (MNS photo)
Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali said in a radio interview four people were killed in what he described as one of the strongest typhoons to hit the province in years.
Another five people were killed in Northern Samar, where Nona first made landfall further south. About 90 percent of the province was affected, said disaster official Jonathan Baldo.
“Many people will spend Christmas in evacuation centers without power and potable water,” Baldo said.
Thousands of lightly constructed houses had been reduced to “matchsticks,” he said.
Residents salvage reusable housing materials from the debris, a few hours after Typhoon Nona made its 3rd landfall in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro on Tuesday. The typhoon, which first made landfall in Northern Samar, displaced thousands of families in central Philippines. (MNS photo)
“It may take three to four months to restore power in the province after power lines and electricity posts were toppled by strong winds,” Baldo said.
Five fishermen were missing in Albay gulf on the heavily populated main island of Luzon, officials there said.
About 120 domestic flights were grounded and nearly 200 ferry services were stopped.
The storm forced the evacuation of about 800,000 people to shelters. Another storm is expected to hit the southern Philippines later this week, forecaster Accuweather said.
An average of 20 typhoons pass through the Philippines each year. In 2013, typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people and left 1.4 million homeless in the central Philippines. (MNS)
— Fishermen stand beside their boats moored along the Navotas coast on Tuesday. Small fishermen temporarily stopped activities on Manila Bay as ferries and fishing boats were advised to remain at port because of Typhoon Nona. (MNS photo)