BREAKING NEWS

Philippine typhoon Phanfone ruins Christmas for evacuees

Christmas turned to chaos for many holiday observers in the central Philippines as a typhoon with strong winds and heavy rains destroyed homes, cut off power and stranded travelers, disaster officials said on Wednesday.
Typhoon Phanfone, rated category 2 by Tropical Storm Risk, was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 km per hour (75 miles per hour) with gusts up to 150 kph when it made landfall in the eastern province of Samar on Tuesday, weather and disaster officials said.
More than 4,000 people have been evacuated in the Eastern Visayas region of the central Philippines, disaster officials said, although no deaths have been reported.
"The aftermath of course made us sad because it's Christmas Day, but it doesn't feel like Christmas, but we're blessed to be safe...no major devastation or casualties reported," Paul Cinco, a resident of Tanauan, Leyte province said.