Weather worsens in Philippines as Super Typhoon Man-yi approaches
A potentially catastrophic super typhoon has made landfall in the Philippines – the sixth typhoon to hit the country in a month.
Man-Yi, known locally as Pepito, made landfall at 9:40 p.m. local time (1:40 p.m. GMT) with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (121 mph) along the eastern coast of Catanduanes Island, a said the state forecaster.
It warned of a “life-threatening storm surge”, heavy rain and strong winds, and hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated before the storm arrived.
At least 160 people died in the previous five storms.
Super Typhoon Man-Yi is expected to hit a wide area, reports BBC Weather.
There will be widespread heavy rain in northern areas, with more than 300 mm (11 inches) expected on Saturday and Sunday, leading to potential flooding and increasing the risk of mudslides.
Winds of up to 270 km/h are also expected, as are waves of up to 15 m (49 feet) in eastern coastal areas.
The capital, Manila, may be spared the strongest winds as the storm heads north, before crossing the island of Luzon and heading offshore by Monday.
Dozens of flights were canceled due to the arrival of the storm, according to local television station ABS-CBN News.
Typhoon Man-Yi hits the Philippines
At least 500,000 people are believed to have fled as the storm approached. The country's civil defense chief, Ariel Nepomuceno, urged people living in the storm's expected path to comply with evacuation orders.
“It is more dangerous now for those in landslide-prone areas because the ground has been saturated by the back-to-back typhoons,” Nepomuceno said.
Glenda Llamas is one of those who had to leave their home.
“We are terrified of the typhoon because it could intensify and the waters could rise,” she told the AFP news agency from a shelter in the eastern province of Albay.
“If we hadn't evacuated, we wouldn't be able to go out later, we don't have anyone else in the house but us.”
“We already have a lot of phobia because of previous calamities that happened here like floods, strong winds and other disasters,” said Melchor Bilay, who was evacuated to a school further south in the province. of Sorsogon.
EPA
Residents of areas likely to be affected are urged to obey evacuation orders.
Although typhoons are not uncommon in the Philippines, forecasters say it is unusual to see so many tropical storms in the Pacific at the same time during the month of November.
Tropical Storm Trami dumped a month's worth of rain on large swaths of the northern Philippines in late October, killing dozens.
This was followed by Typhoon Kong-rey, in which at least three people were killed. It is also the largest typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in nearly 30 years.
Typhoon Yinxing hit northern Luzon island earlier this month, bringing nearly 250 mm of rain to some areas.
Since then, there has been Typhoon Toraji and, earlier this week, Typhoon Usagi, which brought a storm surge of three meters and torrential rains exceeding 200 mm (8 inches).
The United Nations climate change body, the IPCC, said that while the number of tropical cyclones occurring globally is unlikely to increase due to a global warning, it is ” very likely” that they will have higher precipitation rates and reach higher peaks. wind speeds.
This means that a higher proportion would reach the most intense categories.
