Philippines makes storm warning

Baku. 14 December. REPORT.AZ/ Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the central Philippines on Monday as a typhoon with winds of up to 150km/h (95 miles per hour) made landfall, dumping heavy rain that could cause flooding, landslides and storm surges, authorities warned. Report informs citing the AFP

About 40 domestic flights were grounded, while 73 ferries and hundreds of fishing boats were ordered to remain in port as typhoon Melor hit the village of Batag on the northern tip of Samar island.

Melor was plotting a similar path to Haiyan, a category 5 typhoon that struck the central Philippines in 2013. Almost 8,000 people were killed or left missing by Haiyan.

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 coastguard stopped ferries and fishing boats from leaving ports in the central Philippines.