Typhoon Man-yi yesterday slammed into the Philippines’ most populous island, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation.
Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kph after making its first landfall late on Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island.
More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a “life-threatening” effect from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather.
Photo: Reuters
Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone Bicol region.
No deaths have been reported, but there was “extensive” damage to structures on Catanduanes, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said.
Man-yi remained a typhoon as it hit heavily populated Luzon — the country’s economic engine — forecasters said, warning of a “potentially dangerous” situation in Aurora province.
“Significant weakening” was expected as it traversed the mountainous island, but severe flooding and landslides were expected as Man-yi dumped “intense to torrential” rain over provinces in its path, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Forecasters also said storm surges of up to more than 3m could swamp vulnerable coastal communities, including in Manila.
Panganiban municipality in the northeast of Catanduanes took a direct hit from Man-yi.
Photographs and a drone video posted on Facebook by Catanduanes Mayor Cesar Robles showed fallen power lines, damaged and destroyed buildings, and trees and corrugated iron sheets strewn on the roads.
“Pepito was so strong, I have never experienced a typhoon this strong,” Robles wrote, using the local name for Man-yi, as clean-up efforts got under way and people returned home. “It is still a bit unsafe, there are still bursts of wind and there are many debris.”
Mother-of-three Marissa Cueva Alejandro, 36, who grew up in Catanduanes and sheltered with a relative during Man-yi, said typhoons were getting stronger.
“Before, we would only experience [typhoon] signal No. 3 to 4, but now typhoons are getting as strong as signal No. 5,” she said, referring to the weather service’s five-tiered wind warning system.
Man-yi is the sixth storm in the past month to batter the nation. At least 163 people died in the previous storms, that also left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast 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.
The weather forecaster has hoisted its highest and second-highest typhoon signals over a wide band of provinces stretching from Luzon’s east coast, where Man-yi made its second landfall, across to the western side of the island where it would exit.
About 2,000 people were in emergency evacuation shelters in Dipaculao municipality in Aurora province.
Others have stayed home to protect their property and livestock, or because they were skeptical of the warnings, said Geofry Parrocha, communications officer of the Dipaculao disaster agency.
“Some of our countrymen are really hard-headed. They do not believe us until the typhoon arrives,” Parrocha said.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS