Thousands displaced or stranded as Nida whips Philippines

[senorpepr]

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MANILA (AFP) - More than 16,000 people were displaced or stranded in the eastern and central Philippines on Monday as hurricane-force winds from Typhoon Nida forced ports to close, officials said.

The coastguard suspended domestic shipping in areas in the path of the typhoon, which was streaking northwest with maximum sustained winds of 170 kilometers (105 miles) an hour and with gusts of 205 kilometers an hour.

Nida slammed into Catanduanes, an eastern island of more than 200,000 people, mid-morning, the weather bureau said.

Local news reports of deadly landslides on the island could not be independently confirmed.

Meanwhile, three fishermen who went missing at sea off the central island of Leyte when the typhoon brushed past the region on Saturday have been rescued in the adjacent island of Samar, the civil defense office said.

Its operations chief Neri Amparo said over local television that the government would dispatch military helicopters to Catanduanes as soon as the weather clears up to investigate reports of landslide deaths on the coastal town of Gigmoto.

Strong winds and flooding displaced more than 6,000 people on Leyte and Samar, the civil defense office said.

More than 10,000 passengers were stranded at seven ferry crossings in the central Philippines and the eastern Bicol region, it added.

The typhoon was forecast to hit Isabela and Cagayan provinces on the northeastern coast of the main island of Luzon on Tuesday, the weather bureau said.

About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian archipelago every year, claiming an annual average of about 500 lives according to official records.