The provincial government of Batanes has declared a state of calamity after Typhoon Ferdie (international codename: Meranti) affected more than 10,000 people and damaged P55.5 million worth of crops and infrastructure.

Gov. Marilou Cayco also appealed for potable water, food items, generator sets for water pumps, transformers, galvanized iron, construction materials and ropes.

“With the calamity funds, we will be able to restore heavily damaged facilities by the strong typhoon as well as facilitate the delivery of services to affected families and individuals,” Cayco said.

She said families whose houses were totally damaged by strong winds will be given priority.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Region 2 estimated P37 million worth of vegetables, root crops and corn crops were damaged by the typhoon. Meanwhile, 28 school buildings were also destroyed by the typhoon.

Norma Talosig, OCD-Region 2 director, said at least 10,214 people were affected.

She added that 292 houses were totally damaged and 932 partially damaged in the towns of Basco, Ivana and Uyugan.

In Basco town, the buildings of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Provincial Capitol and the Santo Domingo Church were destroyed.

The province had no power since Tuesday because electric posts were toppled. Officials said electricity may be restored after a week.

Telecommunication lines in the towns of Basco, Mahatao and Itbayat were also down since Wednesday except in Uyugan town.

However, communication lines were established on Thursday through SSB Radio of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) and through VSAT of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) connecting Tuguegarao City in Cagayan and Basco town in Batanes.

Meanwhile, another typhoon, locally named Gener, was forecast to leave the country today, Sunday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), however, said that some parts of Luzon will still experience rains because of the southwest monsoon.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains accompanied by thunderstorms are expected over the provinces of Ilocos, Batanes, Apayao, Zambales, Bataan, Palawan, and Babuyan Group of Islands.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers will be experienced in Metro Manila and certain parts of the country.

Moderate to strong winds will blow in Luzon and Visayas, while the coastal waters will be moderate to rough. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon slammed into the northeastern Philippines on Sunday, leaving at least two people dead, knocking out power and isolating villages amid floods and toppled trees.

Typhoon Sarika, locally known as Karen, blew into Aurora province early Sunday and was barreling fast through heavily-populated agricultural provinces, including landslide-prone areas, with sustained winds of 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour and gusts of 220 kph (136 mph).

It was forecast to blow out of the main northern Luzon island by midday into the South China Sea. A separate storm has been spotted far out in the Pacific and may strengthen as it heads toward the Philippines this week, according to the government’s weather agency.

Nearly 10,000 villagers fled their homes in Sarika’s path and were taken in more than 100 emergency shelters, Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said.

Mayor Nelianto Bihasa of Baler, a popular surfing town in Aurora, said howling wind ripped tin roofs off many houses and knocked down trees and electric posts, causing power outages and blocking access roads to some villages. Coastal villagers were warned early to move to safer areas and there have been no immediate reports of casualties other than two injured residents.

In eastern Catanduanes province, a man drowned after being swept by strong river currents and a farmer died after his head hit the ground in fierce wind, provincial safety officer Gerry Beo said, adding that three fishermen have not returned home from a fishing expedition and were reported missing.

Another death related to the typhoon was being checked in nearby Camarines Sur province, officials said.

A month’s worth of rain poured Friday as the typhoon approached from the Pacific, swelling rivers and creeks and flooding low-lying farming villages, Beo said, adding that most towns in the island province of about 260,000 people have no electricity and spotty communications.

In Bataan province, 50 mountaineers were forced to descend from Mount Tarak in stormy weather, but 36 others remained stranded in the uplands, according to police and firefighters who were trying to rescue them. In the northern mountain province of Benguet, 16 mountaineers were stranded in Mount Pulag and forest rangers were enroute to rescue them, officials said.

About 200 domestic and international flights have been canceled and thousands of passengers stranded in seaports after inter-island ferries were ordered not to venture out in rough seas.

About 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year, adding to the many burdens in a country that’s also threatened by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The latest typhoon, Sarika, was named after a singing bird in Cambodia. </s> AFTERMATH. Photo by Aeron Mayor

CAGAYAN, Philippines – Batanes province has been placed under a state of calamity due to the onslaught of Typhoon Ferdie (Meranti).

Norma Talosig, chief of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Cagayan Valley region, confirmed to Rappler on Friday, September 16, that the provincial board declared the province under a state of calamity on Thursday, September 15.

The declaration follows the recommendation of the provincial disaster management agency, according to Talosig.

Governor Marilou Cayco said on Friday that the declaration will allow the provincial government to "immediately respond to the restoration needs of some facilities which were greatly affected by strong the typhoon and to enable quick response and service delivery to the affected families."

Cayco said the provincial government will prioritize families whose houses were totally damaged by strong winds.

On Thursday, Batanes Representative Henedina Abad said the province was "heavily" damaged by Ferdie.

Abad said the province still had no power supply, and the communication lines in the towns of Basco, Itbayat, and Mahatao had been cut.

“Our communities at the moment do not have access to water or electricity, and communication across the province is difficult to establish,” Abad said, adding that there was also great damage in agriculture and infrastructure.

She said she's "thankful" that there were no casualties reported.

Talosig, meanwhile, reported 50 houses were totally damaged while 100 were partially damaged.

The buildings of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Technical Education Development Authority (TESDA), Basco Central School, Batanes National High School, Provincial Capitol building and Sto Domingo Church also suffered damages.

'No help yet'

In a Facebook post, Rachel Ponce, Abad's aide who is a resident of Itbayat, pleaded for help as they have yet to contact some towns.

Ponce lamented the lack of media coverage on the aftermath of Ferdie in Batanes, saying the damage had left some town islands isolated.

"Nakakalungkot na [sobra ang] media coverage [sa] Senate samantalang ang mga kahilyan (kababayan) sa Itbayat eh nagiiyak na sa pag aalala sa Itbayat Island," Ponce said.

(It is saddening that the Senate is receiving a huge media coverage while our countrymen in Itbayat are crying and worried of what had happened to our families in Itbayat Island.)

"Ilang araw na kaming walang naririnig na communication sa kanila. We are so worried. We just want to know if there are casualties, kung buhay pa ba sila? Sa Itbayat kasi ang eye ng typhoon. The last text we received eh nilipad na yung mga bubong, nag evacuate na sa mga may concrete houses ang mga iba. Binaha na daw po sa plaza. First time po na nangyari yun," Ponce added.

(We have not received any communication from them for days. We are so worried. We just want to know if there are casualties, or if they are still alive. The eye of the typhoon passed through Itbayat. The last text we received is that their roofs were blown away and that they are already evacuating to those with concrete houses. Our plaza was flooded and that never happened before.)

Ponce said they "badly" need attention because Batanes had never experienced a typhoon of such strength until then.

She said that since the C130 could not land in Itbayat, they are requesting a helicopter for the town.

"We do not have a voice. Kahit aerial view lang po, kahit ibagsak niyo na lang po yung satellite phone and relief goods (Reach Itbayat even if it's only an aerial view, or even if you just drop a satellite phone and relief goods,) she said.

The regional disaster management agency said it is set to fly to Basco on Saturday via a C-130 plane. The agency will assess the damage of the typhoon and to deliver relief goods.

The team supposedly fled to Batanes on Thursday but they were not given clearance due to the bad weather. – Rappler.com </s> BATANGAS, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon blew out of the northern Philippines on Monday after killing at least six people and spoiling Christmas in several provinces, where more than 380,000 people abandoned celebrations at home to reach emergency shelters and other safer grounds.

Typhoon Nock-Ten cut power to five entire provinces due to toppled electric posts and trees, dimming Christmas revelries in Asia's largest Catholic nation. More than 300 flights were delayed or re-scheduled and ferries were barred from sailing, stranding more than 12,000 holiday travelers.

Six people died from drowning or by being pinned by fallen trees, poles and a collapsed concrete wall in the provinces of Quezon and Albay, southeast of Manila, after the typhoon made landfall in Catanduanes province Sunday night, officials said.

Many military camps and outposts in Catanduanes and outlying provinces were damaged and some troops were injured, the military said.

Nock-Ten, locally known as Nina, then blew westward across mountainous and island provinces, damaging homes, uprooting trees and knocking down communications.

After weakening on landfall, the typhoon had sustained winds of up to 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour and gusts of 180 kph (111 mph) when it blew into the South China Sea after battering the congested provinces of Batangas and Cavite, south of Manila, government forecasters said.

A cargo ship with about two dozen crewmen radioed for help as their vessel started to list off Batangas. It later ran aground and turned on its sided in Mabini town, the coast guard said.

The storm was one of the strongest to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over 5 million in 2014. But officials in some provinces found it difficult to convince people to abandon their Christmas celebrations and head for the shelters before the storm hit. Some officials said they had to impose forced evacuations.

"Some residents just refused to leave their homes even when I warned them that you can face what amounts to a death penalty," Cedric Daep, a top disaster-response official in Albay, said by phone.

Shopping malls and stores were ordered to close early on Christmas Day to encourage people to remain indoors, "but at the height of the typhoon, many cars were still being driven around and people were out walking," Daep said. "We warned them enough, but we just can't control their mind."

Officials in Albay, where more than 150,000 villagers were displaced by the typhoon, declared a "state of calamity" on Sunday to allow faster disbursement of emergency funds.

About 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year. In the past 65 years, seven typhoons have struck the country on Christmas Day, according to the government's weather agency.

Tens of thousands of villagers, forced to spend Christmas in crowded and powerless emergency shelters, started to return home Monday to deal with the damage.

"They have left the evacuation centers and we're seeing the sun again," Ann Ongjoco, mayor of the town of Guinobatan in Albay, one of five provinces that lost electricity, said by phone.

But she said her town, where more than 17,600 villagers fled to shelters in schools, will not be able to resume the holiday celebrations because of the post-typhoon mess. "Many houses made of light materials were destroyed," she said. </s> The Philippine coast guard is running a search for 18 missing crewmen of a cargo ship that was sunk by typhoon Nock-Ten, which left at least seven people dead as of Tuesday (27 December). The super storm ruined Christmas Day in the country, leaving close to 400,000 people displaced from their homes, and is now headed to the South China Sea.

Locally termed as Nina, the typhoon cut power to five provinces in the Philippines and led to the disruption of over 300 flights in the past two days. Six casualties from the typhoon were recorded in Albay and Quezon provinces, while a sailor of the sunken cargo ship also died.

The typhoon first made landfall in Bicol Islands on Sunday (25 December) evening and hit Batangas province and capital Manila on its way out of the country. According to national weather agency Pagasa, after hitting Manila, the typhoon weakened to a severe tropical storm with wind speeds of up to 120kmph and gusts of 180kmph.

The Associated Press quoted coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo as saying that they have rescued 14 crewmen of the M/V Starlite Atlantic, which sank off Mabini town in Batangas province when the powerful typhoon passed through on Monday (26 December). He added that one sailor died and 18 others are missing, but a search was underway.

Balilo said the ship sought cover in an anchorage area as the typhoon passed, but was caught in huge waves and fierce winds, causing it to sink. He added that another cargo ship ran aground in Mabini.

Typhoon Nock-Ten is reportedly one of the strongest to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead in 2014 and more than five million displaced.

The latest typhoon has completely devastated Virac, a city on the eastern island province of Catanduanes, military spokesman Brig Gen Restituto Padilla said, AP reported. He added that the coconut plantations that are the primary industry for the 70,000 odd population of the town were completely destroyed and may take five to 10 years to recover.

President Rodrigo Duterte is reportedly scheduled to visit the town to distribute relief materials to the affected families. </s> MANILA: A typhoon slammed into central Philippines late on Sunday, bringing strong winds and heavy rains and cutting off power, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, weather officials and radio reports said.

Typhoon Nock-ten was packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kph with gusts up to 255 kph when it made landfall over Catanduanes province, which was under the highest storm alert, on the Bicol peninsula on Sunday evening.

The typhoon made a second landfall over Camarines Sur province, then weakened slightly with winds of 175 kph but gusts at 290 kph, the weather bureau said.

Brownout in a lot of areas already,” Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Luis Villafuerte said in a post on his Instagram account.

Communication lines have been cut in some areas, radio reports said.

Around 218,000 people fled to evacuation centres after authorities warned of storm surges and flooding in coastal villages and low-lying areas.

Nock-ten could make another landfall early on Monday while moving west faster at 20 kph, from 15 kph previously, and crossing the provinces of Camarines Norte, Southern Quezon, Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite, weather forecasters said.

The typhoon’s eye will be near Metro Manila on Monday afternoon, they said.

Land, sea and air travel has been suspended in some areas, leaving stranded thousands of people heading home for Christmas in the mostly Christian country.

In 2013, more than 6,000 people were killed and 200,000 homes destroyed when Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest-ever storm to make landfall in the Philippines, hit the central islands of Leyte and Samar. About 20 major typhoons pass through the Philippines each year.

Typhoon Nock-ten lashes central Philippines, cuts power was posted in Lahore of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on December 26, 2016 and was last updated on December 26, 2016. This news story is related to Print/174481-Typhoon-Nock-ten-lashes-central-Philippines-cuts-power/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Typhoon Nock-ten lashes central Philippines, cuts power" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/174481-Typhoon-Nock-ten-lashes-central-Philippines-cuts-power. </s> Super typhoon Nock-ten (Nina) caused turbulence on Christmas Day in many regions of Philippines, leaving one dead and various regions with power outages. The typhoon weakened slightly on Monday as it headed towards the country's capital, officials said, according to reports.

The typhoon cut power in five provinces of the country, displacing thousands of villagers and travellers in the region.

A farmer died on Sunday after he was pinned by a fallen tree in Quezon province, southeast of Manila, after the typhoon hit the country on Sunday night. Nock-Ten reportedly caused significant damage as it rushed across island and mountainous provinces, destroying houses and uprooting trees. All communication lines were also knocked down, the Associate Press reported.

Although the typhoon is said to have weakened a bit, it still sustains winds up to 140 kilometre per hour, according to government forecasters. The super typhoon is now moving towards heavily populated regions, including Batangas and Cavite, south of Manila.

In the wake of the powerful typhoon, thousands of villagers were forced to spend Christmas Day in emergency shelters without electricity. Reports state that they have now left the shelters to deal with the damage at home.

"They have left the evacuation centers and we're seeing the sun again," Ann Ongjoco, the mayor of Guinobatan town in Albay province, told the Associated Press. </s> MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Super typhoon Nock-ten made landfall in the Philippines on Christmas Day after authorities worked to evacuate thousands of residents from low-lying areas of the Southeast Asian country's eastern provinces.

At 8 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), authorities said the typhoon, known locally as Nina, made landfall over Bato in the province of Catanduanes.

The storm hit the Bicol region with moderate to heavy rainfall, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Nock-ten has weakened and now has maximum sustained winds of 240 kph (149 mph) with gusts up to 296 kph (184 mph). The typhoon remains a category 4 equivalent, according to CNN's Severe Weather Team.

The provinces of Catanduanes and Albay have been declared under a "state of imminent danger/disaster."

The storm is expected to traverse the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Southern Quezon, Laguna, Batangas and Cavite. The storm had been forecast to move west at 15 kph (9 mph).

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported 11,476 passengers, more than 1,000 cargo ships and over a dozen other vessels were stranded in various ports in the region.

The Philippines' tropical cyclone warning signal number 4 had been hoisted for Catanduanes and neighboring Camarines Sur. The warning signal, the second-highest level on the scale of alerts, indicates the storm could cause "heavy damage" to high-risk structures. Rice, corn and coconut plantations will likely suffer severe losses.

A storm surge height of up to 2.5 meters is possible over the coastal areas of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon and Catanduanes, PASAGA reported.

Forecasters warned that the storm could bring lashing winds and dump heavy rain in several areas across of the country, including the capital, Manila.

There are fears that Nock-ten could potentially bring flooding to the capital, one of the most densely populated urban centers of the country, during the busy holiday weekend.

PAGASA reports that the typhoon will cause moderate to heavy rainfall in a 500-kilometer (311-mile) radius.

The typhoon warning center projects that the typhoon will gradually weaken "as the system begins to interact with land," but warned it could still retain typhoon intensity.

The governor of the eastern seaboard province of Camarines Sur, Miguel Villafuerte, posted on Twitter that nearly 50,000 family evacuations had been scheduled by 7 p.m. Saturday local time (6 a.m. ET Saturday).

As an added incentive to push people out of their homes and into shelters ahead of Christmas in this Catholic-majority country, Villafuerte has promised to provide the traditional dish of lechon (roasted pig) for his constituents if they proceed to evacuation centers, CNN affiliate ABS-CBN reported.

The Philippines has been battered by devastating typhoons in recent years, most notably Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 -- considered to be among the strongest storms to make landfall. Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people and forced nearly 4 million people from their homes. </s> Philippines searches for 18 crewmen of ship sunk by typhoon

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine coast guard pressed its search Tuesday for 18 crewmen from a cargo ship that sank at the height of Typhoon Nock-Ten, which struck the country on Christmas Day.

Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said 14 other crewmen have been rescued and one died after the M/V Starlite Atlantic sank off Mabini town in Batangas province, where the powerful typhoon passed Monday on its way out of the country into the South China Sea.

President Rodrigo Duterte flew to typhoon-hit provinces and warned in a speech in Camarines Sur that he'll throw out of a helicopter anybody who would steal the financial aid he brought for storm survivors. "I've done that, why won't I do it again?" Duterte said in a threat that won applause from typhoon survivors.

The passenger ferry Shuttle Roro 5 is shown resting by shoreline after being swept by typhoon Nock-Ten a day after Christmas Monday, Dec. 26, 2016 at Mabini township, Batangas province, south of Manila, Philippines. The powerful typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines on Christmas Day, spoiling the biggest holiday in Asia's largest Catholic nation but weakened slightly on Monday as it roared toward a congested region near the country's capital, officials said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The Starlite Atlantic sought cover in an anchorage area as the typhoon passed and its crew decided to move to safer waters but encountered huge waves and fierce winds, causing their ship to sink, Balilo said, adding that another passenger and cargo ship ran aground in Mabini, south of Manila.

At least seven people died from the typhoon, including the sunken ship's crewman and villagers who drowned from flooding or were pinned by fallen trees or a collapsed wall in Albay and Quezon provinces.

Duterte flew to the hard-hit town of Virac on the eastern island province of Catanduanes, where the typhoon made landfall on Sunday night, to witness the distribution of food packs to residents. Ahead of the president's visit, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and top military officials flew to Virac and were stunned by the extent of devastation.

"Their common perception is that Virac is completely devastated," military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said of the coastal town of more than 70,000 people. The province's coconut plantations, the primary industry, were destroyed and may take five to 10 years to recover, he said.

From a helicopter, "we saw the devastation of coconuts, abaca and the forests. There are lots of houses without roofs," Lorenzana said by text message. "There is no electricity yet in all of Catanduanes."

In Camarines Sur, Duterte warned that whoever touches the financial aid for the typhoon-battered province, "I will fetch you in a helicopter and on the way to Manila, I'll throw you out."

He said without elaborating that "I've done that," suggesting they were kidnappers who killed or raped captives even after being paid ransoms. "I'll throw you at a low altitude, not that high, because in the length of the fall you may be able to develop wings, just at the right (altitude) so the impact of your crash won't be heard."

The president's past extreme comments against suspected drug pushers and corrupt officials have left many wondering if he was exaggerating, and administration officials have said he often uses hyperbole as a scare tactic.

Still, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein last week called on Philippine authorities to investigate Duterte for murder after he claimed to have personally killed people in the past.

Nock-Ten, locally known as Nina, forced more than 420,000 villagers to abandon their Christmas celebrations for emergency shelters and other safer grounds. Power was knocked out in several provinces and flights and ferries were grounded, stranding would-be passengers.

About 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year. In the past 65 years, seven typhoons have hit on Christmas Day, the Southeast Asian nation's biggest holiday.

The storm was one of the strongest to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over 5 million in 2014.
The storm cuts power and communications in the Philippine province of Batanes as it undergoes a "state of calamity."