Join us in prayer for the nearly 725,000 people evacuated as typhoon Melor attacks the eastern Philippines

Albay governor Joey Salcedia has reported no casualties as of yet.

Formidable Typhoon Melor has hit the Philippines, causing landslides, flooding and the evacuation of nearly 725,000 people. Join us in prayer for the safety of those caught in Melor's path.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Typhoon Melor hit the eastern Philippines on Monday, with the government's weather bureau reporting 95-mile-an-hour winds and gusts up to 115 miles per hour.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported nearly 724,839 people evacuated from three eastern provinces on Sunday and early Monday prior to Melor's arrival, with the majority of evacuees from Sorsogon and Albay provinces. 

During the two-day evacuation, residents were seen with bags of clothes and water jugs climbing into army trucks in Albay's Legazpi City amid the sound of evacuation alarms.

Forty domestic flights and 625 passenger and cargo ferry trips have been canceled, while Albay governor Joey Salceda stated, "The whole province is now a ghost town. We shut all establishments. No school, no work."

Salceda added there have been no casualty reports, even in the northern tip of Samar province, where the typhoon first made landfall.

Albay is a province of 1.2 million people and has evolved to become a model for disaster preparedness. When Typhoon Haupit hit last December, there were no casualties following immediate evacuations.

The region has equipped itself to handle storms and typhoons well, particularly since the average number of storms and typhoons tearing their way through the Philippines is twenty each year.

Typhoon Melor is expected to continue across the Philippines before moving out to the South China Sea on Tuesday.

Though the country's preparedness levels have saved millions in previous storms, please join us in a prayer for the safety of its citizens.

Graciously hear us, O Lord, when we call upon You,and grant unto our supplications a calm atmosphere, that we, who are justly afflicted for our sins, may, by Your protecting mercy, experience pardon. Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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