One person died of hypothermia and two others drowned in a small fishing village south of the capital Manila and millions were without power as Typhoon Melor battered the central Philippines on Tuesday, according to a local official. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from coastal regions and moved to inland shelters as the often-deadly typhoon season reached a fever pitch. The heavy rains and strong winds of Melor blasted the typhoon-prone Bicol Peninsula overnight before moving onto the Romblon Islands on Tuesday with winds of about 170 kph, AFP reported. The Philippines experiences about 20 typhoons a year, with most of them occurring towards the end of the year. In October, Typhon Koppu killed 54 people and displaced tens of thousands from their homes in the north of the country. In 2013, the Philippines experienced one of its deadliest weather disasters when Typhoon Haiyan caused tsunami-like waves that destroyed communities at one fell swoop, leaving more than 7,000 people dead or missing.
