Over 6,000 Filipinos displaced on Christmas Day due to typhoon

More than 6,000 people have been displaced as typhoon Nock-ten battered parts of the Philippines, authorities said Sunday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement that government workers, particularly those involved in disaster relief and operations, are "working round-the-clock even on Christmas Day" as the weather disturbance, locally named Nina, maintains its strength and now endangers eastern province of Catanduanes.

Packing maximum sustained winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 255 kph, Nock-ten is expected to make landfall over Catanduanes Sunday evening and will cross the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, southern Quezon, Laguna, Batangas and Cavite, the state weather forecasting agency Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Disaster Response and Management Bureau (DReAMB), the typhoon has displaced a total of 585 families or 2,340 individuals in Region V or Bicol Region.

"The affected families are currently staying in two evacuation centers in Guinobatan, Albay," DSWD said in a statement.

Some 975 families or 3,793 persons residing along coastal and riverside areas in the municipalities of Pambujan and Rosario in central province of Northern Samar have been evacuated and are currently staying in 14 evacuation centers in the region, it added.

A total of 4,088 passengers have been stranded as of 9:00 a.m. local time in 10 seaports in Region V, as sea travel continued to be risky over the seaboards of Luzon, Samar, and Leyte, the department said.

DSWD said it has started to provide relief assistance to the affected families.

Nock-ten is projected to be outside the Philippines by Wednesday afternoon, Pagasa said. Endit