Typhoon Melor makes landfall in the Philippines

Manila, Dec 14: Over 161,000 families or about 725,000 people were evacuated in eastern and central Philippines due to typhoon Melor, locally named as Nona, the state disaster management agency said on Monday.

The typhoon made landfall in Batag Island, Northern Samar around 11.00 a.m. (local time) on Monday, Xinhua reported.

It is expected to make a second landfall in Sorsogon province later in the day, the state weather forecasting agency said.

Those who were evacuated came from the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon, and in Northern Samar, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

Classes were also suspended in eight provinces and at least 40 domestic flights were cancelled due to the weather disturbance.

Nearly 8,000 passengers, 62 vessels and 552 rolling cargoes were also stranded due to rough sea conditions.

It has maximum sustained winds of 150 kms per hour (kph) near the centre and gusts of up to 185 kph.

IANS