By The Straits Times | Created at 2024-11-17 03:08:38 | Updated at 2024-11-23 12:00:38
6 days ago
MANILA – Super Typhoon Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and ripped off corrugated iron roofing as it swept across the storm-weary Philippines on Nov 17, following an unusual streak of violent weather.
Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kmh after making landfall on lightly populated Catanduanes island late on Nov 16.
More than 650,000 people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the national weather service warned of a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening” impact from the storm.
“There have been no reported casualties, perhaps because people followed the evacuation orders,” Catanduanes provincial disaster operations chief Roberto Monterola told AFP on Nov 17, as clean-up efforts got under way.
“All the towns sustained damage, but we expect those in the north to have more problems,” he said.
“It’s just a breeze and a drizzle now.”
Man-yi is expected to “slightly weaken” to a typhoon before hitting Luzon – the country’s most populous island and economic engine – in the afternoon on Nov 17, forecasters said.
Panganiban municipality in the north-east of Catanduanes took a direct hit from Man-yi.
Photos shared on the Facebook page of Mayor Cesar Robles show toppled power lines, damaged houses, and trees and corrugated iron sheets strewn on the roads.
“Pepito was so strong, I have never experienced a typhoon this strong,” he said in a post, using the local name for Man-yi.
“It is still a bit unsafe, there are still bursts of wind and there are many debris.”
Man-yi is the sixth storm in the past month to batter the archipelago nation. At least 163 people died in the previous storms that also left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, 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.
Mr Robert Tancino, a government ambulance driver in Tiwi municipality in Albay province, which faces Catanduanes, said his area appeared to be largely unscathed.
“Not too many trees fell and the roads are otherwise clear. I did not see any damage among the houses here,” he told AFP.
On its current trajectory, Man-yi will cross north of Manila and sweep over the South China Sea on Nov 18.
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. The Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP this was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951. AFP
