January 2, 2017
ASIA / PACIFIC
Typhoon kills six people, spoils
Christmas festivities in Philippines
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
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ATANGAS, The Philippines
— A powerful typhoon blew
out of the northern Philip-
pines after killing at least six people
and spoiling Christmas in several
provinces, where more than 380,000
people abandoned celebrations at
home to reach emergency shelters
and other safer grounds.
Typhoon Nock-Ten cut power to
five entire provinces due to toppled
electric posts and trees, dimming
Christmas revelries in Asia’s largest
Catholic nation. More than 300
flights were delayed or rescheduled
and ferries were barred from sailing,
stranding more than 12,000 holiday
travellers.
Six people died from drowning or by
being pinned by fallen trees, poles,
and a collapsed concrete wall in the
provinces of Quezon and Albay,
southeast of Manila, after the ty-
phoon made landfall in Catanduanes
province, officials said.
Many military camps and outposts
in Catanduanes and outlying prov-
inces were damaged and some troops
were injured, the military said.
Nock-Ten, locally known as Nina,
then blew westward across moun-
tainous and island provinces,
damaging homes, uprooting trees,
and knocking down communications.
After weakening on landfall, the
typhoon had sustained winds of up to
74 miles per hour (mph) and gusts of
111 mph when it blew into the South
China Sea after battering the
congested provinces of Batangas and
Cavite, south of Manila, government
forecasters said.
A cargo ship with about two dozen
crewmen radioed for help when the
vessel started to list off Batangas. It
later ran aground and turned on its
sided in Mabini town, the coast guard
said.
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CHRISTMAS CURTAILED. The M/V Shuttle RORO 5 is seen after it drifted near the shore in
Mabini, Batangas province, south of Manila, the Philippines, as Typhoon Nock-Ten roared over the
congested region last month. The powerful typhoon spoiled Christmas Day in parts of the Philip-
pines, then blew over an area near Manila with slightly weaker, but still fierce winds, according to
officials. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
The storm was one of the strongest 150,000 villagers were displaced by
to hit the Philippines since Typhoon the typhoon, declared a “state of
Haiyan left more than 7,300 people calamity” to allow faster disburse-
dead or missing and displaced more ment of emergency funds.
than 5 million in 2014. But officials in
About 20 typhoons and storms lash
some provinces found it difficult to the Philippines each year. In the past
convince people to abandon their 65 years, seven typhoons have struck
Christmas celebrations and head for the country on Christmas Day, ac-
shelters before the storm hit. Some cording to the government’s weather
officials said they had to impose agency.
forced evacuations.
Tens of thousands of villagers,
“Some residents just refused to forced to spend Christmas in crowded
leave their homes even when I and powerless emergency shelters,
warned them that you can face what returned home the next day to deal
amounts to a death penalty,” Cedric with the damage.
Daep, a top disaster-response official
“They left the evacuation centers
in Albay, said by phone.
and we’re seeing the sun again,” Ann
Shopping malls and stores were Ongjoco, mayor of the town of
ordered to close early on Christmas Guinobatan in Albay, one of five
Day to encourage people to remain provinces that lost electricity, said by
indoors, “but at the height of the phone.
typhoon, many cars were still being
More than 17,600 villagers fled to
driven around and people were out shelters in schools. “Many houses
walking,” Daep said. “We warned made of light materials were
them enough, but we just can’t destroyed,” she said.
control their mind.”
Associated Press writer Jim Gomez
Officials in Albay, where more than
in Manila contributed to this report.
North China cities choked by smog shut factories & stopped cars
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The Associated Press
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B
EIJING — Engulfed in
choking smog, some northern
Chinese cities limited the
number of cars on roads and
temporarily shut down factories to
reduce air pollution during a national
“red alert” last month.
More than 700 companies stopped
production in Beijing and traffic
police
restricted
drivers
by
monitoring their license plate
numbers, state media reported.
Dozens of cities closed schools and
took other emergency measures after
the “red alert” was issued for much of
northern China.
“The smog has serious repercus-
sions on the lungs and the respiratory
system, and it also influences the
health of future generations, so under
a red alert, it is safer to stay at home
rather than go to school,” said Li
Jingren, a 15-year-old high school
student in Beijing.
Authorities in the northern
province of Hebei ordered coal and
cement plants to temporarily shut
down or reduce production. Else-
where, hospitals prepared teams of
doctors to handle an expected surge
in cases of pollution-related illnesses.
China’s air pollution is blamed on
its reliance on coal and emissions
from older cars.
“If you are tracking back to the first
RED ALERT. People, some wearing masks for protection against air pollution, walk on a pedes-
trian overhead bridge in Beijing while the Chinese capital is shrouded by heavy smog. Engulfed in
choking smog, some northern Chinese cities limited the number of cars on roads and temporarily
shut down factories to cut down on pollution during a national “red alert.” More than 700 compa-
nies stopped production in Beijing, state media reported. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
News websites said the number of
day of this episode, you can see that
the layer of the smog (in Beijing) is children taken to Beijing hospitals
moving slowly from the south to the with breathing trouble soared.
urban area in Beijing and then to the Photos showed waiting rooms
north,” said Dong Liansai, a climate crowded with parents carrying
campaigner with Greenpeace in children who wore face masks.
Beijing. “You can easily find the large
Members of the public closely
deployment (of smog) in the regions watch levels of PM2.5, particles
south of Beijing.”
measuring 2.5 microns across that
Dong said emissions from factories are easily inhaled and damage lung
in nearby provinces were the main tissue.
cause of the smog choking the capital.
Red is the highest level on the
The smog had earlier grounded four-tier system prescribing actions
flights in some cities and closed taken to reduce the smog.
highways due to low visibility.
Continued on page 13
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