Typhoon slams into Philippines on holiday

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A powerful typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines on Christmas Day, spoiling the biggest holiday in Asia’s l a r ge s t C a t h o l i c n a t i o n , where a governor offered roast pig to entice villagers to abandon family celebrations for emergenc y shelters.

Typhoon Nock-Ten was packing maximum sustained winds of 114 mph and gusts of up to 158 mph when it made landfall Sunday night in Catanduanes province, where fierce winds and rain knocked down the island’s power and communications, officials said.

After Catanduanes, the typhoon, which had a 300mile rain band, was expected to barge westward across the mountainous southern plank of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and blow close to the capital, Manila, today, before starting to exit toward the South China Sea.

Nock-Ten may weaken after hitting the Sierra Madre mountain range in southern Luzon.

Heavy rainfall, destructive winds and battering waves were threatening heavily populated rural and urban regions, where the Philippine weather agency raised typhoon warnings, stranding thousands of people in ports as airlines canceled flights and ferries were prevented from sailing.

Officials warned of storm surges in coastal villages, flash floods and landslides, and asked villagers to evacuate to safer grounds.

Christmas is the biggest holiday in the Philippines, making it difficult for officials to get people’s attention to heed the warnings.