Super Typhoon Man-yi makes landfall in Philippines: Government forecaster
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
More than 650,000 people have fled their homes ahead of Super Typhoon Man-yi.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
MANILA - Super Typhoon Man-yi
Man-yi was packing sustained wind speeds of 195kmh when it slammed into Panganiban municipality on Catanduanes island at 9.40pm, the forecaster said.
More than 650,000 people had fled their homes ahead of Super Typhoon Man-yi, which became the sixth major storm to pummel the archipelago nation in the past month.
“Potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation looms for north-eastern Bicol region as Super Typhoon ‘Pepito’ further intensifies,” the forecaster said in its latest update, using the local name for the storm and referring to the southern part of the main island of Luzon.
More than 7.6 million people were at risk from storm surges of 1m to 3m, the forecaster said.
At least 163 people have died in the five storms that pounded the Philippines in recent weeks, with thousands left homeless and crops and livestock wiped out.
The government urged people on Nov 16 to heed warnings to flee to safety.
“If pre-emptive evacuation is required, let us do so and not wait for the hour of peril before evacuating or seeking help, because if we did that, we will be putting in danger not only our lives but also those of our rescuers,” Interior Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said.
In Albay province, Legazpi City grocer Myrna Perea was sheltering with her fruit-vendor husband and their three children in a school classroom with nine other families after they were ordered to leave their shanty.
Conditions were hot and cramped – the family spent the night of Nov 15 sleeping together on a mat under the classroom’s single ceiling fan – but Ms Perea said it was better to be safe.
“I think our house will be wrecked when we get back because it’s made of light materials – just two gusts are required to knock it down,” said the 44-year-old.
“That’s why we evacuated. Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is we do not lose a family member.”
Residents in Legazpi wait with their belongings to be moved to evacuation centres before typhoon Man-yi makes landfall.
PHOTO: AFP
Scientists have warned climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rain, flash floods and stronger gusts.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the South-east Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
Evacuation centres were filling up on Catanduanes island in the typhoon-prone Bicol region, with the weather forecaster warning of “widespread incidents of severe flooding and landslides”.
Power was shut down ahead of the storm, with shelters and the command centre using generators for electricity.
More than 400 people were squeezed into the provincial government building in the capital Virac, with new arrivals being sent to a gymnasium, provincial disaster officer Roberto Monterola told AFP.
Residents from coastal areas take shelter on an evacuation centre in Legaspi City, Albay province, south of Manila.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Monterola said he had dispatched soldiers to force about 100 households in two coastal villages near Virac to move inland due to fears storm surges could swamp their homes.
“Regardless of the exact landfall point, heavy rainfall, severe winds, and storm surges may occur in areas outside the predicted landfall zone,” the forecaster said.
The mayor of Naga city in Camarines Sur province imposed a curfew from midday on Nov 16 in a bid to force residents indoors.
In Northern Samar province, disaster officer Rei Josiah Echano lamented that damage caused by typhoons was the root cause of poverty in the region.
“Whenever there’s a typhoon like this, it brings us back to the mediaeval era, we go (back) to square one,” he said, as the province prepared for the onslaught of Man-yi.
All vessels – from fishing boats to oil tankers – have been ordered to stay in port or return to shore.
Nearly 4,000 people were stranded after the coast guard shut 55 ports.
The volcanology agency also warned that heavy rain dumped by Man-yi could trigger flows of volcanic sediment, or lahars, from three volcanoes, including Taal, south of Manila.
Man-yi hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season – most cyclones develop between July and October.
Earlier in November, four storms were clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin, which the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Nov 16 was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951. AFP
