Eight dead after typhoon Man-yi hits Philippines

Photo: Noel Celis Associated Press In Aurora province, winds gusting to 115 mph (185 kph) uprooted trees, toppled power lines, crushed wooden homes and triggered landslides.

Agence France-Presse in Manila

Published at 10:01 a.m.

• Asia

Eight people died due to typhoon Man-yi, which hit the Philippines on Sunday, including seven in a landslide in the northern part of the archipelago, according to an official with the local disaster management agency.

The landslide, which also injured three people, occurred in Nueva Vizcaya province, north of Manila on the island of Luzon, Kristine Falcon, an official with the local disaster management agency, told AFP.

A 79-year-old man also died in Camarines Norte province (east of Manila), after his motorcycle hit a power line, according to police.

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The national weather service had warned of the “potentially catastrophic” impact of the typhoon Man-yithat hit the Philippines on Sunday, but President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday that it was “not as bad as we feared,” according to an official transcript of his remarks provided to the media.

Winds averaging 185 km/h, with gusts reaching 305 km/h, were recorded after Man-yi made landfall in Aurora province on the island of Luzon on Sunday afternoon.

It uprooted trees, brought down power lines, crushed wooden houses and triggered landslides.

Hundreds of homes in Ilagan city, Isabela province (northeast of Luzon), were flooded on Monday following a release of water from a dam.

In the island province of Catanduanes, the typhoon toppled power poles, causing power outages that could last for months, provincial information officer Camille Gianan told AFP.

“We will now continue to help people in isolated areas,” as well as those “who do not have the means to prepare their own meals and who do not have access to water,” the Philippine president said.

The “super typhoon” Man-yi was downgraded to typhoon status on Sunday as it passed over the island of Luzon, and is heading toward Vietnam on Monday.

More than 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes as Man-yi, the sixth storm to hit the archipelago in the past month, approaches.

At least 171 people have died in the series of tropical storms that began in mid-October, leaving thousands homeless and wiping out crops and livestock.

Every year, about 20 powerful storms and deadly typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters, but it is rare for several such events to occur in such a short period of time and so late in the year.

Scientists say climate change is making storms more intense, bringing heavier rains, flash floods and more violent gusts.