25 December, 1918
TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Typhoon Quantico following an abnormal track hit central Philippines. The forecasters with their technology of that time, noted the fact that the typhoon was moving very slowly from 2pm of December 23 to 6pm of December 24, should be taken in 99 percent of the cases as a sign that the typhoon was recurving northeastward, yet the opposite happened. The typhoon approached the country the following day on December 25.
The areas that suffered the most from the effects of this typhoon were Sorsogon, Albay, Romblon, the northernmost part of Samar and the southern part of Catanduanes. Also called the “Christmas Typhoon”, the typhoon was named Quantico in memorial to the interisland steamer of that name that was cast ashore and wrecked in Tablas Island (Romblon) that dreadful Christmas night with the loss of 21 lives.
(Ref: The Quantico typhoon, December 25, 1918 by Rev. Jose Coronas, S.J., Manila: Bureau of printing, 1919. Philippine magazine, Volume 34, Number 1, January 1937; Photo from kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1385/today-in-philippine-history-december-25-1918-typhoon-quantico-following-an-abnormal-track-hit-central-philippines)
