Update (8 p.m.)
Typhoon “Nina” (international name: Nock-Ten) made land fall at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday in Bato, Catanduanes, the state weather bureau said.
Nina was forecast to make landfall at 8 p.m. and its early arrival suggested that the typhoon picked up speed, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
“The landfall at 8 p.m. was based on Nina’s 15 kph movement and the typhoon most likely gathered speed and arrived early,” forecaster Denison Estareja told DZMM in an interview Sunday evening.
“But we will verify this in the next typhoon update,” he added.
Nina packed maximum sustained winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 255 kph and these were unchanged when it struck the province, Pagasa said.
Storm signals were also unchanged but the agency said it might lower these later in the night.
As Nina was walloping Catanduanes, Vice Governor Shirley Abundo was contacted by DZMM but the interview was cut when her phone suddenly went dead.
Before her call dropped, Abundo sounded worried as she was about to describe the intensity of the monster winds.
“It na po ang pinakamakas na tumama sa amin…(This is the strongest typhoon to ever hit us),” she told the DZMM anchor, her voice shaking.
Earlier, storm warning Signal No. 4 was hoisted over Catanduanes and Camarines Sur, while Signal No. 3 was placed over Burias Island, Albay, Camarines Norte, Southern Quezon, Sorsogon and Marinduque.
Metro Manila was placed under Signal No. 2, together with the following areas: Masbate including Ticao Island, Oriental Mindoro, Batangas, Laguna, rest of Quezon including Polillo, Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Island, Romblon, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Bataan and Northern Samar.
Signal No. 1 was hoisted over Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora,Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Zambales, Pampanga, Tarlac, Calamian Group of Islands, Aklan, Capiz, Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran, Leyte and Bantayan Island./ac