MANILA – (UPDATE) Powerful typhoon “Nina” (international name: Nock-Ten) slammed Luzon Island on Christmas Day and left a trail of flooding and power outages overnight, officials said Monday.

Tens of thousands fled to evacuation centers before the storm lashed easternmost Catanduanes island with 250-kilometer per hour wind gusts, officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The winds upturned trucks and blew them to the side of the road, toppled trees and power lines, blew roofs off concrete structures and leveled palm-thatch houses to the ground.

“Nina” weakened slightly as it crossed Camarines Sur, Quezon and Marinduque, on course to make a fifth landfall in Batangas province south of the capital, Manila later Monday, the state weather bureau said.

“Matindi po yung epekto. Kagabi, yung gustiness, talagang napakalakas ng hangin, nagakaroon kami ng baha na lampas-tao,” said Albay provincial disaster officer Cedric Daep.

Floods up to head-high submerged parts of the towns of Polangui, Malinao, Ligao, Oas, Libon, Pio Duran, Tabacco and Tiwi. The waters receded at daybreak as roads were cleared of debris, Daep told DZMM.

Power and communication lines were down in Catanduanes, which endured the storm’s strongest winds, said Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

“Napabalita sa amin na talagang malakas ang naranasan nila doon… Hindi pa tayo maka-touch base talaga at makakuha ng impormasyon sa mga kababayan natin dyan,” Marasigan told DZMM.

(We received information that it was really bad there… We have yet to touch base there and check on the condition of our countrymen.)

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar advised the public to stay alert.

In Metro Manila, some 400 Coast Guard personnel were placed on standby along with over 30 rescue trucks and boats to respond to possible flooding, Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo said.

In July 2014, Typhoon Glenda (international name: Rammasun) hit the capital, causing widespread power outages, forcing 370,000 people to shelters and leaving at least 10 dead.

The Philippines is battered by an average of 20 typhoons annually, with the most powerful ones hitting towards the end of the year. But Christmas Day typhoons are rare.

Also in 2014, over two dozen people were killed after Typhoon “Seniang” (international name: Jangmi) charted a low course across the Visayas during the New Year’s Day weekend, catching many unprepared.