MANILA — Millions of people in the Philippines were Wednesday bracing for a ferocious tropical storm that has already claimed 14 lives and submerged vast tracts of land in more remote parts of the country.
Nock-ten was expected to hit the heavily populated central section of the main Luzon island at 1:00pm (0500 GMT), then dump heavy rain there for about a day before blowing out into the South China Sea, the state weather service said.
The storm hit the coastal provinces of Albay and Camarines Sur on southern Luzon on Tuesday, forcing 645,000 people to flee their flooded homes, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chief Benito Ramos told AFP.
"Those two provinces are underwater," he said.
The government is waiting for the skies to clear and the seas to calm down before sending emergency supplies by air and water to those provinces, according to Ramos.
"We can't use the army trucks because the roads are flooded," he said.
The council said dozens of flights had been cancelled because of the storm.
Ramos said 14 people had been confirmed killed so far, with most of the fatalities in the coastal regions.
More than eight million people live across the central plains of Luzon, where Nock-ten is forecast to strike on Wednesday.
Civil Defense Administrator Benito Ramos said Wednesday that more than 640,000 people have been affected by Tropical Storm Nock-ten. Most of them are in Albay province, which has been inundated by heavy rains since Monday.
Forecasters say the storm made landfall on Aurora province Wednesday with maximum winds of 59 miles (95 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 75 mph (120 kph).
Nock-ten, a Laotian word for bird, is the 10th of about 21 typhoons and storms expected to lash the Philippines this year.
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