A potentially disastrous super typhoon has made landfall in the Philippines. This is the sixth typhoon to hit the Philippines in one month.
Man-Yi, known locally as Pepito, touched down along the eastern coast of Catanduanes Island at 21:40 local time (13:40 GMT) with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (121 mph), a state forecaster said.
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 are known to have died in the five previous storms.
Super Typhoon Man-Yi is expected to affect a wide area, BBC Weather reported.
There will be widespread heavy rain in northern areas, with more than 300 mm (11 inches) of rain expected to fall on Saturday and Sunday, potentially causing flooding and increasing the risk of landslides.
Winds of up to 270 kilometers per hour are expected, and waves of up to 15 meters (49 feet) are expected along the east coast.
The capital Manila may be spared the worst of the winds as the storm moves north, crossing Luzon, the Philippines’ largest and most populous island, and heading towards the coast by Monday.
Dozens of flights were canceled due to the storm, according to local broadcaster ABS-CBN News.
At least 500,000 people were reported to have been evacuated as the storm approached. Civil Defense Chief Ariel Nepomuceno urged people living in the storm’s expected path to comply with evacuation orders.
“People living in landslide-prone areas are now more at risk because the land has been saturated by successive typhoons,” Mr. Nepomuceno said.
Glenda Llamas is one of those who had to leave her home.
“I’m scared that the typhoon could get worse and the water could rise,” she told AFP from a shelter in eastern Albay.
“If we don’t evacuate, we won’t be able to get out later. There’s no one else in the house but us.”
“We already have a lot of fears because of previous disasters that have happened here: floods, strong winds and other disasters,” said Melchor Bilay, who was evacuated to a school further south in Sorsogon province. .
EPAWhile typhoons are not uncommon in the Philippines, forecasters say it is unusual to see so many tropical storms simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean during the month of November.
Tropical Storm Trami dumped a month’s worth of rain on the northern Philippines in late October, killing dozens of people.
Subsequently, at least three people died due to Typhoon Kong-rey. It also The biggest typhoon to hit Taiwan After almost 30 years.
Typhoon Yinxing impacted northern Luzon island earlier this month, dropping nearly 250 mm (10 inches) of rain in some areas.
This was followed by Typhoon Toraji and, earlier this week, Typhoon Usagi, which brought a storm surge of 3 meters and heavy rain exceeding 200 mm (8 inches).
The UN’s climate change agency, the IPCC, said the warning planet was unlikely to cause an increase in the number of tropical cyclones forming globally, but it was “very likely” they would produce more rainfall and peak. Wind speed.
This means that a higher percentage will reach the most intense categories.
