By Jim Gomez | Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon destroyed homes, caused massive tidal waves and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it barreled through the northern Philippines on Sunday, the sixth major storm to hit the country in less than a month.
Typhoon Man-yi hit the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Saturday evening with sustained winds of up to 195 kilometers (125 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 km/h (149 mph). The country’s weather agency warned of a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation” in provinces along its path.
No casualties were immediately reported by the typhoon, which was expected to blow northwestward on Sunday over northern Luzon, the most populated region of the archipelago. Metro Manila, the capital, would likely be spared a direct hit, but has been placed, along with outlying areas, under a storm alert and warned of dangerous coastal storm surges.
“The rain was minimal, but the wind was very strong and there was this strange howling,” Roberto Monterola, a disaster mitigation officer in Catanduanes, told The Associated Press by telephone. “Along a main boulevard here, tidal waves rose to over 7 meters (23 feet) near waterfront houses. It looked really scary.
The entire province of Catanduanes was left without power after the typhoon destroyed trees and utility poles, and disaster response teams were checking to see how many more homes had been damaged beyond those affected by previous storms, he explained.
“We need tin roofs and other building materials, besides food. The villagers here tell us that they still have not recovered from the past storm and have been stranded again by this typhoon,” Monterola said. Nearly half of the island province’s 80,000 residents have taken refuge in evacuation centers.
Catanduanes officials were so worried as the typhoon approached that they threatened vulnerable villagers with arrest if they did not follow orders to evacuate to safer locations. Nearly 400,000 people have taken refuge in emergency shelters, including churches and a shopping mall, due to Man-yi and two previous storms, mainly in the northern Philippines, the secretary told the AP Deputy for Social Affairs, Irene Dumlao, and provincial officials.
The rare number of back-to-back storms and typhoons that hit Luzon in just three weeks have killed more than 160 people, affected 9 million people and caused such extensive damage to residential communities, infrastructure and farmland that the Philippines may have to import more. rice, a staple food for most Filipinos. In an emergency meeting ahead of Man-yi, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked his cabinet and provincial officials to prepare for a “worst-case scenario.”
At least 26 domestic airports and two international airports were temporarily closed and inter-island ferry and cargo services were suspended due to rough seas, stranding thousands of passengers and travelers, according to the Airport Authority. Philippine Civil Aviation and Coast Guard.
Manila’s ally the United States, along with Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, has provided cargo planes and other storm aid to bolster overwhelmed government agencies dealing with disaster response. Last month, the first major storm, Trami, left many dead after dumping one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in several cities.
The Philippines is hit by around twenty typhoons and storms every year. It is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
