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Over 725,000 people evacuated as Typhoon Melor makes landfall in C. Philippines

Xinhua, December 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

Over 161,000 families or about 725,000 individuals were pre-emptively evacuated in three provinces in eastern and central parts of the Philippines due to typhoon Melor, locally named as Nona, the state disaster management agency said Monday.

Typhoon Melor made its landfall in Batag Island, Northern Samar at 11:00 a.m. Monday and 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 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 185 kph. Endit