Over 700,000 evacuated as typhoon hits east Philippines

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

More than 700,000 people have been evacuated in the east Philippines as Typhoon Melor made landfall Monday, prompting school closures and flight cancelations.

State weather bureau PAGASA said in a bulletin that as of 11 a.m. (0300GMT), the storm – locally called Nona -- was tracked 60 kilometers east of Catarman city in Samar -- one of the hardest hit islands in deadly Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

The bureau issued storm signal No. 3 in three northern and two central provinces for the typhoon, which is packing maximum winds of 155 kilometers (96 miles) per hour.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Control Council said in its latest situational report that more than 724,800 people were evacuated in at least 10 provinces and cities as part of preemptive measures in case of flooding and landslides.

Meanwhile, 40 domestic flights have been cancelled and the Philippine Coast Guard has suspended sea travel in some areas.

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.