A super typhoon sweeping towards the country was intensifying and could have a “potentially catastrophic” impact, 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 Super Typhoon Man-yi, which is expected to make landfall yesterday or early today, becoming the sixth major storm to pummel the archipelago nation in the past month.
With wind gusts of up to 240kph, Man-yi was on track to slam into the sparsely populated island province of Catanduanes as a super typhoon or “near peak intensity”, the weather service warned yesterday.
“Potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation looms for northeastern Bicol region as Super Typhoon ‘Pepito’ further intensifies,” the forecaster said in its latest update, using the local name for the storm and referring to the southern part of the main island of Luzon.
Up to 14m high seas were expected around Catanduanes, while more than 7.6 million people were at risk from storm surges of 1-3m, the forecaster said.
At least 163 people died in the five storms that pounded the Philippines in recent weeks that also left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.
The government 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,” Interior Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said yesterday.
In Albay province, Legazpi City grocer Myrna Perea was sheltering with her fruit vendor husband and their three children 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’s made of light materials – just two gusts are required to knock it down,” said the 44-year-old.
“That’s why we evacuated. Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is we do not lose a family member.” — AFP
