Wet, dark Christmas looms for Philippines as another typhoon moves in

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, leaving many without power for the Christmas period.

Source: CHANNEL NEWSASIA

MANILA: 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 Melor had paralysed the capital, 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, known locally as Nona, was about 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Mindoro island, just to the south of Manila, with winds at its centre of 130 kph (80 mph).

Residents walk past a house destroyed by typhoon Melor after it hit Bulan town. (Photo: AFP/Charism Sayat)

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 Melor 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 centres without power and potable water," Baldo said.
Thousands of lightly constructed houses had been reduced to "matchsticks", he said.
"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.