Category 4 Typhoon Hit the Philippines on Christmas Day

A Category 4 super typhoon with international name Nock-ten, hit the Philippines on Christmas Day. Locally named Nina, the super typhoon made its first landfall in the province of Catanduanes at 8 in the evening local time on December 25. The province is part of the Bicol Region in the eastern section of the island of Luzon. Local authorities were able to evacuate residents numbering in the thousands, many of them children and elderly, from the low-lying areas in the Bicol Regions a day before Nina was expected to hit the province. Power and telecommunication services were cut off in some areas as Nina passed over Catanduanes.

Nina was packing maximum sustained winds of 235kph and wind gusts of up to 285kph on Christmas Day. According to the Philippines’ local weather bureau, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Nina battered the Bicol region with very strong winds accompanied with moderate to heavy rainfall for about four hours on Christmas evening. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said that Nock-ten had weakened slightly after encountering land mass in the Bicol region but remains at Category 4. It has a rain band of 500 kilometers.

Projected path

Nina is expected to move westward at a speed of 15kph, to exit towards the South China Sea by Wednesday evening, December 28. After passing the provinces of Albay and Catanduanes in the Bicol region, it is expected to traverse Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte, still in the Bicol region, then over Southern Quezon, Laguna, Batangas and Cavite, which are provinces in Southern Luzon. It will also affect several areas in the central, northern and southern parts of Luzon including Metro Manila, as well as parts of the Visayas. PAGASA warned residents along the coast in Bicol region of possible storm surges that could reach 2.5 meters. Nina is forecast to cause substantial damage to structures and crops. In many parts of Luzon, rice crops have already been flattened due to strong winds even before the typhoon arrived. The rice plants were heavy with grains and just waiting for the right time to be harvested. Nina could also affect coconut, corn and vegetable plantations.

Stranded passengers

Because it is the holiday season and many workers in Metro Manila have families in different parts of the county, airports, bus terminals and sea ports were teeming with passengers and holiday goers. With the disruption of schedule due to the number of passengers and later, the cancellation of flights and land and water trips, many passengers were stranded, spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day especially at sea ports. People tried to sleep in the most comfortable positions and places they could find. Some just leaned back on their bags and packages. Some found cartons that they spread close to their belongings, especially those with children, while others did not manage to get a wink. Many still managed to smile, sharing stories with fellow passengers, eating instant noodles or actually opening some of the food gifts they were supposed to give to their families and friends so they could fill their stomachs.

While other passengers grumbled that a notice of cancellation of bus, boat and plane trips should have been given earlier, other passengers understood the situation, saying that the management of transport companies were only thinking of their safety. They said that it was all right to stay at the terminals because they were safe there. They also said that they still had time to travel to their home towns as soon as the typhoon passes. Typhoon Nina is projected to exit the land mass of Luzon in the evening of December 26 and fully leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Wednesday local time.

One of the most devastating typhoons that passed over the Philippines was Typhoon Haiyan, which battered parts of the Visayas in 2013. Historically, the Philippines has been visited by a typhoon on Christmas Day seven times for the last 65 years.