Super Typhoon “Man-yi” Makes Landfall in the Philippines

Photo: Charism Sayat Agence France-Presse Large waves crash along a seawall ahead of the expected arrival of Super Typhoon “Man-yi,” in Legaspi City, Albay province, on November 16, 2024.

Cécil Morella – Agence France-Presse

Published at 9:16 AM

• Asia

Super Typhoon Man-yi, which has just made landfall in the Philippines, is intensifying and could have a “potentially catastrophic” impact on the archipelago according to the meteorological service. Millions are at risk.

More than 650,000 people have fled their homes as the “super typhoon” with winds of up to 150 mph (240 km/h) approaches and is expected to make landfall late Saturday or early Sunday.

It will be the sixth major storm to hit the Philippines in a month.

Previous storms have killed at least 163 people, left thousands homeless, destroyed crops and killed livestock.

“A potentially catastrophic and deadly situation is looming in the northeastern Bicol region as Super Typhoon Pepitois intensifying further,” the weather agency said in its latest update, using the storm’s local name and referring to the southern part of the main island of Luzon.

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On Saturday, the government urged people to heed warnings and take “If a precautionary evacuation is necessary, let's do it and not wait for the hour of danger to evacuate or seek help, […] we will be putting not only our lives at risk, but also those of our rescuers,” said Marlo Iringan, Undersecretary of the Interior.

In Albay province, Myrna Perea, her husband and three children took shelter in a classroom with nine other families after being ordered to flee their tin-clad home.

It is hot and cramped. The family spent Friday night on a shared mattress under the classroom’s single ceiling fan. But Perea, 44, said it was better to be safe.

“That’s why we left. Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is not to lose a family member.”

Curfews and forced evacuations

In the island province of Catanduanes in the typhoon-plagued Bicol region, evacuation centers are filling up and the weather agency is warning of severe flooding and landslides.

Power was cut off as a precaution. Shelters were powered by generators.

More than 400 people were packed into the provincial government building in the capital Virac, with new arrivals sent to a gymnasium, provincial disaster official Roberto Monterola told AFP.

Mr. Monterola said he had deployed troops to force about 100 households in two coastal villages near Virac to move inland, fearing the storm would submerge their homes.

“Regardless of the exact landfall, heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges may occur in areas outside the expected landfall area,” the weather agency said.

The mayor of Naga City, Camarines Sur province, imposed a curfew starting at noon Saturday to force residents to stay indoors.

A return to “medieval times”

In Northern Samar province, disaster official Rei Josiah Echano said the damage caused by typhoons is causing poverty in the region.

“Every time we have a “A typhoon like this takes us back to the medieval era,” Echano told AFP.

All ships, from fishing boats to oil tankers, have been ordered to stay in port or return to dock.

Nearly 4,000 people have been stranded after the coast guard closed 55 ports.

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

About 20 major storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, killing dozens of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to occur in a short period of time.