A typhoon sweeping toward the Philippines yesterday was intensifying and could have a “potentially catastrophic” effect, the state weather forecaster warned, with millions of people at risk from storm surges.
More than 650,000 people have fled their homes ahead of Typhoon Man-yi, known locally as “Pepito,” which was expected to make landfall yesterday or early today, becoming the sixth major storm to pummel the nation in the past month.
With wind gusts of up to 240kph, Man-yi was on track to slam into the province of Catanduanes at “near peak intensity,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Photo: AFP
“Potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation looms for northeastern Bicol region as Super Typhoon ‘Pepito’ further intensifies,” the forecaster said.
Up to 14m-high seas were expected around Catanduanes, while 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 the past few weeks, leaving thousands homeless and wiping out crops and livestock.
The government yesterday urged people to heed warnings to flee to safety.
“If preemptive 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,” Philippine Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said.
In Albay province, Legazpi grocer Myrna Perea and her family were sheltering in a school classroom with nine other families after they were ordered to leave their shanty.
Conditions were hot and cramped — the family spent Friday night sleeping together on a mat under the classroom’s single ceiling fan — but Perea said it was better to be safe.
“I think our house will be wrecked when we get back, because it is made of light materials — just two gusts are required to knock it down,” Perea, 44, said. “That is why we evacuated. Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is we do not lose a family member.”
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