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Agence France-Presse

A powerful typhoon left three dead and threatened to bring heavy rains and winds to the heavily-populated Philippine capital as it dragged its way across the archipelago on Monday, spoiling the Christmas holidays.
Typhoon Nock-Ten, which made landfall on the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Sunday, is forecast to move westward towards the country’s heartland, packing winds of 215 kph.
A couple were reported killed by a flood while an elderly man was crushed by a falling wall, governor of the storm-ravaged eastern province of Albay Al Bichara said on local television.
More than 383,000 people have fled their homes while over 80 domestic and international flights have been cancelled, the civil defence office said, as the unusually late typhoon marred Christmas celebrations in the largely Christian nation.

The government weather station said Nock-Ten is moving northwest at 20 kph and is expected to affect Manila and the surrounding area later in the day.
The bustling metropolis of about 13 million was eerily quiet the day after Christmas with the usual holiday revellers staying indoors as the storm approached.
The civil defence office said the capital could suffer “heavy to intense rains, flashfloods and severe winds,” with rescue boats ready to be deployed in case rivers overflow.
“Our local disaster councils are on red alert. We have pre-positioned relief supplies and rescue and (road) clearing equipment in Metro Manila,” said Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the country’s disaster monitoring council.

The coastguard on Sunday ordered the beaches south of Manila to be cleared of holidaymakers by Monday, while residents of the capital’s seaside slums were warned to leave their homes.
The storm previously cut off electricity to millions and forced government agencies to order evacuations of whole communities in the eastern region of Bicol which felt the brunt of the storm on Christmas day.
In the Bicol town of Ligao, many streets and farms were in ankle-deep water while some homes remained caked in mud left by flooding.
Masseuse Erna Angela Pintor, 20, said she and her family spent a sleepless Christmas in fear as the strong winds ripped off part of their roof.
Their neighbours living near the river bank sought refuge in their home as the waters rose to their chests, she recalled, though her own family was luckier.
“The floods (last night) only reached to our knees. Thank goodness the current wasn’t that strong,” she said.

“This was supposed to be a celebration but we cannot celebrate. This is a sad Christmas for us. No one (in the family) died but a lot of our neighbours’ homes were washed away.”
Marasigan said hundreds of people in Bicol celebrated Christmas day in evacuation centres where many had to make do with emergency food packs.
Some local officials had offered roast pigs - the traditional Filipino holiday fare - to entice constituents to go to evacuation centres, Marasigan said.
“Government workers in the Bicol region, particularly those involved in disaster relief and operations, are working round-the-clock even on Christmas Day as typhoon Nina (the local name of Nock-Ten) maintains its strength and continues to pose a serious threat to Bicol region,” President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Martin Andanar said.
Some 20 typhoons or lesser storms strike the Philippines each year, routinely killing hundreds of people, and Bicol is often the first region to be hit.
Mammoth tsunami-like waves devastated the city of Tacloban and nearby areas when super typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines in November 2013, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.


Christmas typhoon Nock-Ten leaves three dead as Philippines  braces for heavy rains

Villagers ride a jeepney next to a toppled signboard in the typhoon-hit city of Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines. Photo: EPA

Stranded passengers from Tabaco port are evacuated by the local government in Tabaco City, Albay province on December 24, 2016 after their seafaring vessels were prohibited from sailing ahead of typhoon Nock-Ten's expected arrival. Philippine authorities began evacuating thousands of people and shut down dozens of ports on December 24 as a strong typhoon threatened to wallop the country's east coast on Christmas Day. Nock-Ten is expected to be packing winds of between 203-250 kilometres per hour (126-155 miles per hour) when it crosses over Catanduanes, a remote island of 250,000 people in the Bicol region, late Sunday, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. / AFP PHOTO / Charism SAYAT

TOPSHOT - Young residents sit in a truck after the local government implemented preemptive evacuations at Barangay Matnog, Daraga, Albay province on December 25, 2016, due to the approaching typhoon Nock-Ten. Babies, toddlers and old people were loaded onto military trucks in the Philippines on December 25 as thousands fled from the path of a powerful typhoon barrelling towards the disaster-prone archipelago. / AFP PHOTO

epa05688365 Filipino motorcycle riders maneuver next to a toppled tree in the typhoon-hit town of Milaor, Camarines Sur, Philippines, 26 December 2016. According to Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reports on 26 December, hundreds of thousands of villagers spent their Christmas day in evacuation centers in Bicol region, many flights were cancelled at Manila's internatioanal airport, and scores of sea vessels have reportedly sunk as Typhoon Nock-ten brought howling winds and strong rains in central Philippines. EPA/EUGENIO LORETO

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