Wednesday, 16 December 2015. The Typhoon Melor or also known as Nona, stepped Philippine lands in the early hours of Monday; affecting the central region of the country with heavy rains and winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour; leaving its step four people killed and more than 730,000 people have been evacuated.
A report issued on Tuesday afternoon indicated that the four deaths recorded up to that time were due to the following reasons: two of them by drowning, one by hypothermia and one by the fall of a huge sheet of metal that was dragged by the winds. The Council for Disaster Risk Management of this country reported that there are more than 7,000 completely destroyed homes in the province of North Samar; indicating that the number of deaths could increase, since the storm threatens to keep attacking the Philippine territory.
In Northern Samar, heavy rains and sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour have been registered, leaving this locality and Eastern Samar without electrical power or communication networks. At least 16 provinces of the Philippines remain under alert to the reports issued by the Meteorological Agency PAGASA, in which are determined about the heavy rainfall with 250 kilometers in diameter and sea swells with waves up to two meters high in coastal areas.
This same Meteorological Agency estimates that Melor will leave Philippine territory this coming Friday, becoming itself into a storm and keeping its pass toward the China Sea with a speed of 11 kilometers per hour, with heavy rains and strong winds.
Meanwhile, measures were taken to prevent further damage and human losses, as the suspension of classes in all the educational centers of 16 provinces, the prohibition of any type of navigation in the affected areas and at least 70 domestic flights were canceled. In addition, about 8,000 people were trapped on the coast after that the Coast Guard decided to suspend the movement of ferries and fishing boats.
The Philippines is annually visited by some 15 to 20 typhoons in the rainy periods, between the months of June to November. Melor is then positioned at the fourteenth storm that affects this year to the Philippines. And in October, there were approximately 64 deaths with the pass of the Typhoon Koppu by northern Philippines.
In 2013, the supertyphoon Haiyan was one of the stronger storms that until now have touched Philippine territory and that reached the category of five, by its destructive power. This Supertyphoon claimed the lives of more than 7300 people and hundreds of thousands of people affected. For concern on the part of the experts, Melor follows a route similar to Haiyan, reason why the authorities do not think lift red alert until next Friday; hoping to maintain safe the rest of the population.
ALFA