One person died in Northern Samar as Typhoon Nona continued on its westward path.
The fatality was identified as Pascual Ausente Jr., 31, who suffered multiple lacerations when a piece of galvanized iron roofing sheet flew due to strong winds in Allen, Northern Samar, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported during a briefing conducted by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday morning.
A report by Agence France-Presse on Tuesday however said three people died—one of hypothermia and two of drowning in Catarman, Northern Samar, quoting municipal disaster officer Jonathan Baldo.
Typhoon Nona made landfall in Mindoro around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
It is set to weaken as it makes its way across Visayas over the day, but the public is still warned to be wary of hazards brought strong winds and heavy rains.
The following areas are under Public Storm Warning Signal No. 3 with storm surge up to four meters possible:
- Mindoro Provinces
- Lubang Island
- Marinduque
- Romblon
Public Storm Warning Signal No. 2 is up over:
- Burias Island
- Southern Quezon
- Batangas
- Calamian group of islands
Meanwhile, Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1 is hoisted over:
- Metro Manila
- Masbate
- Tisco Island
- CamSur
- CamNor
- Albay
- Cavite
- Laguna
- Bulacan
- Rizal
- N Palawan
- Bataan
- Rest of Quezon
Evacuations
More than 100,000 families were evacuated from their homes in Regions IV-A, IV-B, V, VII, and VIII as Nona made its way to Banton, Romblon on Tuesday morning.
The briefing by the DSWD, with data from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), revealed that 162,729 families or 733,150 people were pre-emptively evacuated and classes in 16 provinces, 14 municipalities, and six cities were suspended.
Around 247 evacuation centers opened with 98,668 families in Regions V and VIII while 93 schools are being used as evacuation centers—one in Region VI-B, 89 in Region V, 1 in Region VII, and 2 in Region VIII.
Relief goods
A total of P707,871,861.62 in funds remain on standby while 297,768 food packs worth P98,878,181.08 and P102,771,087.26 in non-food items are available at the field offices of Regions III, IV-A, IV-B, V, VI, VII, VIII, NCR, and National Resource Operations Center as of December 14.
Some P9,983,325.74 worth of logistics were prepositioned in Regions IV-B, V, VIII, and NCR while P102,299,963.50 worth of logistics remain at the DOH Regional Offices' warehouse and Central Office.
Toppled trees, power cut off
The storm toppled trees and cut electricity to at least seven provinces, the NDRRMC said.
Christmas lanterns and lights, tin roofs and branches littered the streets of the city of Legazpi, which was battered by strong winds.
People who fled from their coastal homes spent a sleepless night in evacuation centers, sprawled on classroom tables and chairs as flying debris swirled around outside.
Nona whipped the vast Bicol peninsula, with a population of 5.4 million people, overnight before slamming into the Romblon islands on Tuesday morning.
Gusts had weakened somewhat by Tuesday morning but were still recorded at 170 kilometers (106 miles) per hour from 185 kilometers per hour on Monday. The storm was expected to weaken further as it heads to Mindoro island and out into the South China Sea later Tuesday, state weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said.
Zero casualty
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the typhoon-prone Bicol region, where 720,000 people were evacuated as early as the weekend.
"We have zero floods, zero deaths, zero casualties," Albay Governor Joey Salceda said in a television interview.
"What we are asking for is the early restoration of electricity," he said, adding the entire province of 1.2 million people was without power.
Authorities were assessing Nona's damage while bracing for another typhoon brewing east of Mindanao, the country's main southern island, said NDRRMC spokeswoman Mina Marasigan.
Bad weather forced the cancellation of 16 domestic flights on Tuesday, adding to the 56 flights canceled on Monday, the NDRRMC said.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year, many of them deadly, with the strongest happening towards the end of the year.
The last deadly storm to hit the country this year, Lando (Koppu), killed 54 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes after it pummelled rice-growing northern provinces in October.
In November 2013, one of the strongest typhoons on record, Yolanda (Haiyan), flattened entire communities in the central region with tsunami-like waves, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing. —With Agence France-Presse/KG, GMA News
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