This archive report was first published on 24 December 2019.
Published on December 24, 2019, a tropical storm was upgraded to a typhoon shortly before it made landfall on Christmas Eve in the Philippines, a mainly Catholic nation.
The storm, named Phanfone, struck the southern tip of the impoverished island of Samar in the afternoon with gusts of up to 150 kilometres (90 miles) an hour, causing significant damage to trees and power infrastructure.
"There are no signs of heavy damage except for houses made of light materials," said Ben Evardone, the governor of Eastern Samar province, adding that there were no casualties in the area.
Just under 1,700 people were evacuated from coastal areas and those prone to flooding and landslides, according to early official tallies.
Regional civil defence official Reyden Cabrigas warned that local officials would force families to evacuate if they refused to heed warnings, despite some families being reluctant to leave their homes for Christmas.
Phanfone was forecast to cut across the central islands through Christmas Day before roaring out to the South China Sea, prompting the cancellation of many commercial flights and the stranding of thousands of people.
The storm was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left over 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.
