Christmas typhoon: 4 dead, 8 missing

MANILA, Philippines - After forcing thousands to have Noche Buena in cramped evacuation centers on Christmas, Typhoon Nina (international name Nock-Ten) continued to pummel southern Luzon and eastern Visayas yesterday, making eight landfalls within 24 hours before leaving landmass at mid-afternoon and a trail of destruction in its wake.

At least four people were reported dead in Bicol, the country’s usual typhoon punching bag. A roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel sank off Batangas as the storm made landfall in the province more than once, leaving eight crew missing.

Electricity went out in at least five provinces, as seven power lines had tripped since Christmas Day.

Close to 400,000 people fled their homes and sought refuge in emergency shelters, mostly public school buildings. Thousands were rendered homeless.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Nina’s eye was spotted at 75 kilometers southwest of Subic, Olongapo, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 180 kph.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) was expected to lift all tropical cyclone warning signals last night. Nina is expected to exit the country by Wednesday morning. No weather disturbance is seen to follow Nina, the agency said.

President Duterte is awaiting the weather authorities’ go-signal for him to visit areas hit by the typhoon.

“The President wants to really go to the affected areas, but authorities prevented him from going straight there, unless the weather is clear and would be safe for him to travel,” a source told The STAR.

4 dead, 8 missing

A farmer died after being pinned by a fallen tree in Quezon province and three other villagers, including a couple who were swept away by flashfloods, died in Albay province after the typhoon made landfall in Casiguran province Sunday night, police said.

Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office chief Cedric Daep identified the three victims as Antonio Caligacion, 73, his wife Teresita, 70, and Estelita Marilad, 57, all of Polangui town.

At least 23 landslides isolated the towns of Bato, San Miguel and San Andres from the rest of Catanduanes, after Nina made its first landfall in Bato town on Sunday night.

The storm also flattened houses made of light materials in the southern towns of Catanduanes.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the storm sank RoRo vessel Starlite Atlantic Ferry in Batangas waters yesterday, leaving eight crew missing, while 14 others were rescued.

As of 4 p.m., the PCG recorded nine vessels running aground, particularly in Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro, to escape the strong winds.

The ships were: RoRo ships Baleno 5, 7 and 8, Starlite Polaris, Starlite Bluesea and Oceanjet 10 and 12.

Ghost town tarmac

The country’s main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, was like a ghost town with no aircraft in sight, as air carriers canceled over 400 international and domestic flights from as early as 6 a.m. Thousands of passengers were prevented from boarding their flights with Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Zest and other foreign airlines.

But Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal said some incoming flights were able to land at NAIA in the morning, like China Airlines from Taipei at 9:59 a.m. and Jetstar Asia at 10:52 a.m.

With sustained winds of up to 130 kph and gusts of 215 kph, Nina cut power in five provinces at the height of Christmas celebrations and displaced hundreds of thousands of villagers and travelers in the country.

Government forecasters said Nina – after blowing over the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon), Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (Mimaropa), Bicol and eastern Visayas – was expected to exit over the South China Sea late yesterday.

The storm was one of the strongest to hit the Philippines since Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over five million in November 2013.

Local officials in some provinces said they found it difficult to convince people to abandon their Christmas celebrations and head for the shelters before the storm hit, compelling them to impose forced evacuations.

Forced to spend Christmas in crowded and powerless evacuation shelters like in Albay, tens of thousands of villagers started to return home late yesterday as the sun came back, but they had to deal with the problem of their houses being destroyed by the storm.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in seaports, a total of 12,019 passengers, 1,047 rolling cargoes, 43 vessels and six motor bancas were stranded in different coastlines in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, and Central, Eastern and Western Visayas.

The agency said 83 areas in Mimaropa and Region V had no electricity, with seven power lines in Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Region V cut off since Christmas Day.

So far, P7.109 million worth of assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units (LGUs) in Albay, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon have been given to affected families and individuals.

Illness outbreak prevention

The Department of Health has set up health clinics at the evacuation areas affected by Typhoon Nina to prevent outbreak of illnesses, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said.

Ubial said medicine and other medical support are being given to the evacuees for free.

The World Health Organization-Philippines has come up with some health tips to avert risk of water- and mosquito-borne diseases during floods.

The DSWD assured the public yesterday that the agency has enough relief supplies to respond to the needs of families affected by the typhoon.

Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said assistance includes 580,857 family food packs, 2,459 ready-to-eat meals, 1,585 malong, 885 mosquito nets, 885 blankets and 585 dignity kits.

Taguiwalo said these were on top of the goods already allotted for the local government units affected by the typhoon.

Enough rice

The National Food Authority (NFA) said the typhoon-hit areas have enough rice supply, as the agency released more than 10,000 bags as contingency.

The bags of rice, the NFA said, were released to the DSWD and the LGUs for distribution to typhoon victims.

NFA officer-in-charge Tomas Escarez said the agency’s local offices in the Bicol region, Calabarzon and Metro Manila are on alert to closely coordinate with relief agencies, including the Philippine Red Cross.

“We are ready to issue their rice requirements anytime,” Escarez said. “We have a standing memorandum of agreement with these relief agencies, so they can withdraw rice from the NFA during calamities and emergencies.”

No-walk zone

In Manila, the city government declared the Baywalk area on Roxas Boulevard as a “no-walk zone” yesterday due to Typhoon Nina.

City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office administrator Jun Tolentino said promenaders and ambulant vendors usually occupying the stretch of Roxas Boulevard from the US embassy to the Manila Yacht Club were banned from the area while the weather was bad.

But despite the order, some vendors went on plying their wares near the sea wall.

Tolentino said the city government was closely monitoring the cramped and poor communities in the city’s Baseco and Parola compounds in Tondo, as well as the city’s evacuation areas and six hospitals.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said eight sections of roads in Bicol were closed to traffic yesterday, as trees fell in the wake of Nina’s strong winds and heavy rains.

In Camarines Sur, the boundary marker along Daang Maharlika Highway, Naga City/Milaor Boundary Road was closed. So were Tigaon-Gao-Lagonoy-Caramoan Road, Pili-Tigaon-Albay Boundary Road and Daang Maharlika Highway.

Affected in Catanduanes province were intermittent sections of Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Junction Bato-Baras Road, Baras-Gigmoto-Viga Road and Junction of Catanduanes Circumferential Road-Panganiban-Sabloyon Road.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said clearing operations in the affected roads were being done yesterday. – Helen Flores, Michael Punongbayan, Rudy Santos, Cet Dematera, Celso Amo, Evelyn Macairan, Edith Regalado, Sheila Crisostomo, Rainier Allan Ronda, Louise Maureen Simeon, Danessa Rivera, Louella Desiderio, Rey Galupo, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Christina Mendez, Michelle Zoleta, AP