Latest typhoon hits Philippines, displacing many people

In this photo provided by MDRRMO Viga Catanduanes, downed trees from Typhoon Man-yi block a road in Viga, Catanduanes province, northeastern Philippines, on November 17. (AP)

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 17, (AP): A powerful typhoon plowed through the northern Philippines in its sixth major storm on Sunday, destroying homes, causing massive tidal waves and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters. country in less than a month. Typhoon Man-yi hit the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Saturday night with sustained winds of up to 195 kilometers (125 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kilometers (149 miles) per hour. The country’s weather agency warned of a “potentially disastrous and life-threatening situation” in provinces along the route.

There was no loss of life due to the typhoon, which is expected to blow northwestward on Sunday along the north of Luzon, the most populous region of the archipelago. The capital region of Metropolitan Manila would likely be spared a direct hit, but along with outlying areas were placed under storm warnings and warned of dangerous coastal storm surges.

“The rain was very light, but the wind was very strong and made an eerie howling sound,” Roberto Monterola, a disaster mitigation officer in Catanduanes, told The Associated Press by phone. “The tidal waves along the main boulevard here, near the seaside houses, reached over 7 meters (23 feet). It looked really scary.” He said the entire province of Catanduanes was left without power after the typhoon toppled trees and power poles, and disaster response teams were checking how many more homes were damaged in addition to those affected by previous storms.

“Apart from food, we need tin roofs and other construction materials. “The villagers tell us that they still haven’t recovered from the past storm here and are stranded again because of this typhoon,” Monterola said. Almost half of the island state’s 80,000 people were housed in evacuation centres.

Catanduanes officials were so worried as the typhoon approached that they threatened vulnerable villagers with arrest if they did not comply with orders to evacuate to safer locations. Civil Defense Authority Deputy Undersecretary Cesar Idio and other provincial officials said more than 750,000 people had taken shelter in emergency shelters, including churches and a shopping mall, due to Man-yi and two earlier storms mostly in the northern Philippines.