Typhoon Nock-Ten severely disrupted Christmas festivities in parts of the Philippines, bringing with it strong winds, heavy rain and some flooding, particularly in Occidental Mindoro province in Mimaropa Region.
Calapan, the capital of the province of Oriental Mindoro, recorded 110.4 mm of rain in 24 hours to 27 December. Calayan, an island in the province of Cagayan, recorded 119.8 mm during the same period.
The typhoon made landfall Sunday evening, 25 December, on the island of Catanduanes Nock-Ten, known locally as Nina, has since made eight landfalls: Bato in Cantanduanes; Sagnay in Camarines Sur; San Andres in, Quezon; Torrijos in, Marinduque; Verde Island, Tingloy and Calatagan, all in Batangas; and Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro.
Since then Nock-Ten has maintained its strength while traversing the West Philippine Sea. At 4am 27 December the eye of the Typhoon was located 360 km west of Iba, Zambales, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) at least 7 people have died and 18 are missing. Among the fatalities are a couple who were swept away in a flash flood in Albay province, southeast of Manila.
Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported on 27 December that Typhoon Nock-Ten had affected 153,384 people across 530 barangays in the regions of Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas.
DSWD says that as many as 127,012 people had been pre-emptively evacuated and were currently accommodated in 520 evacuation centres. Over 290 houses have been damaged and 41 destroyed.
However, full damage assessments are yet to be carried out and access is being hindered by fallen trees, landslides, damaged bridges and debris on several road networks.
Some of the worst disruptions have been for ferry passengers, with many people travelling for the Christmas holidays. DSWD say that 16,155 passengers are stranded at 20 seaports around the country. Air travel was also affected with hundreds of flights cancelled.
