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.
“They intentionally cut off electricity (in Bicol) because of the strong winds so no one would be accidentally electrocuted if the power lines are knocked down,” Marasigan told AFP.
“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 in a statement.
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.
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.
It prides itself on having sharpened its disaster response to minimise casualties.
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.
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(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
