17 December 2015•Update: 18 December 2015
By Roy Ramos & Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
At least eight people have been killed as a typhoon ripped through eastern and central islands of the Philippines, injuring 12 others and destroying tens of thousands of houses, according to authorities Thursday.
In a situational report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that eight people -- including a minor and two elderly women -- had died due to drowning, toppled trees, falling debris and electrocution.
Typhoon Melor -- locally named Nona -- destroyed more than 109,000 small houses in the three days it hit the archipelago, also causing around P320 million ($6.75 million) in damage to agriculture and infrastructure.
Five cities and around 100 towns continued suffering Thursday from power outages and communication disruptions due to utility lines toppled by strong winds, while 13 roads and two bridges remained blocked by flood water as the storm headed for the South China Sea.
After causing the evacuation of nearly 800,000 people earlier in the week, the storm weakened Thursday morning.
As Melor exited the Philippines, another storm named Onyok threatened the archipelago
The state weather agency PAGASA said the tropical depression was moving westward toward eastern parts of southern Mindanao island with sustained winds of 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour, and is expected to make landfall Friday.
Forecaster Aldzar Aurelio said that Onyok may gather strength over the Pacific Ocean and intensify into a tropical storm before hitting the Caraga region.
Onyok is expected to carve through northern Mindanao by Saturday morning before hitting west of Zamboanga City on Sunday morning and exiting the Philippines on Monday morning.
The Philippines suffers around 20 typhoons and storms each year, many of them deadly.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan -- one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded -- struck the country's central islands, leaving more than 8,000 people dead, missing and injured.
