Philippines preparing for Super Typhoon Man-yi

Millions of people are at risk from storm surges as a super typhoon heading towards the Philippines on Saturday intensifies and could have “potentially catastrophic” effects, the state weather forecaster warned.

More than 650,000 people have fled their homes ahead of Super Typhoon Man-yi, which is expected to make landfall late Saturday or early Sunday, becoming the sixth major storm to hit the archipelagic nation in the past month.

With winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour (about 149 miles per hour), Man-yi was on track to hit the sparsely populated island province of Catanduanes as a super typhoon, or “near-peak intensity,” the weather service said.

“A potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation looms over the northeastern Bicol region as Super Typhoon ‘Pepito’ intensifies further,” the forecaster said, using the storm’s local name and referring to the southern part of the main island of Luzon.

The forecaster said seas as high as 14 meters (46 feet) were expected around Catanduanes, while more than 7.6 million people were at risk from storm waves of one to three metres.

At least 163 people died, thousands were left homeless, and crops and animals were destroyed in five storms that hit the Philippines in recent weeks.

The government on Saturday urged people to heed warnings to flee to safety.

The Undersecretary of Internal Affairs said, “If preventive evacuation is necessary, let’s do it and let’s not wait for the hour of danger before evacuating or calling for help, because if we do this, we will endanger not only our own lives but also the lives of our rescuers.” Marlo Iringan said.

In Albay province, Legazpi City grocer Myrna Perea was staying in a school classroom with nine other families after she, her husband and three children were ordered to leave the slum.

Conditions were hot and cramped (the family spent Friday night sleeping together on mats under the classroom’s only ceiling fan), but Perea said it was better to be safe.

“I think when we come back our house will be ruined because it is made of light materials; it only takes two gusts of wind to destroy it,” Perea, 44, told AFP.

“That’s why we evacuated. Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is that we don’t lose a family member.”

Scientists have warned that climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rainfall, flash floods and stronger winds.

About 20 major storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian country or surrounding waters every year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for such weather events to occur more than once in a small window.

Evacuation centers were overwhelmed on Catanduanes island in the typhoon-prone Bicol region, with the weather forecaster warning of “widespread severe flooding and landslides”.

Power was out before the storm because the shelters and command center were using generators for electricity.

More than 400 people were crammed into the state government building in the capital Virac, and the new arrivals were sent to a gym, state disaster officer Roberto Monterola told AFP.

Monterola said he sent troops to force about 100 households in two coastal villages near Virac to move inland for fear that storm waves could flood their homes.

“Regardless of the exact landing point, heavy rainfall, high winds and storm surges may occur in areas outside the predicted landing zone,” the forecaster said.

The mayor of the city of Naga in Camarines Sur province declared a curfew starting at noon on Saturday in an attempt to force residents to stay indoors.

Chief Josiah Echano, a disaster officer in Northern Samar province, lamented that the damage caused by typhoons was the main cause of poverty in the region.

“Every time there is a typhoon like this, it brings us back to medieval times, we go back to square one,” Echano told AFP as the province braced for Man-yi’s onslaught. he said.

All ships, from fishing boats to oil tankers, were ordered to remain in port or return to shore.

Approximately 4 thousand people were stranded after the coast guard closed 55 ports.

The volcanological agency also warned that heavy rain poured by Man-yi could trigger the flow of volcanic sediment, or lahar, from three volcanoes, including Taal, south of Manila.

Man-yi will hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season; most hurricanes develop between July and October.

Earlier this month, four storms clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin; It was the first time such an event had been observed in November since records began in 1951, the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP on Saturday.