Typhoon Melor: Philippines evacuates more than 700,000 people ahead of 95mph winds
Around 40 domestic flights have been grounded and 73 ferries ordered to remain in port
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Your support makes all the difference.Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from central Philippines as a typhoon made landfall bringing heavy rain and threatening winds of up to 95 mph.
Typhoon Melor, known locally as Nona, has led authorities to ground at least 40 domestic flights, while 73 ferries and hundreds of fishing boats were ordered to remain in port. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
It was expected to roll across nearby islands before making landfall later on Monday close to Sorsogon, about 240 miles southeast of the capital, Manila, on the heavily populated main island of Luzon.
Disaster authorities have temporarily closed schools and some offices and evacuated about 750,000 people in three provinces. About 8,000 people were stranded after the coast guard stopped ferries and fishing boats from leaving ports in the central Philippines.
Adam Douty, a meteorologist at AccuWeather, said: "Melor is a very compact typhoon, so that will prevent its most devastating impacts from extending too far from its centre.
"While Melor will not slam onshore as a super typhoon as once feared, it still poses dangers to lives and property.”
Around 20 major typhoons pass through the Philippines each year.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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