Super Typhoon Man-yi uprooted trees, downed power lines and tore up roof tiles as it swept through the typhoon-weary Philippines on Sunday, following unusually violent weather.
Man-yi was still packing sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour) after making landfall on the sparsely populated island of Catanduanes late Saturday.
More than 650,000 people have left their homes ahead of Man-yi as the National Weather Service warned of potentially catastrophic and life-threatening impacts from the storm.
“No casualties have been reported, probably because people followed evacuation orders,” Catanduanes state disaster chief Roberto Monterola told AFP on Sunday, as efforts to clean up the island continued.
“All the cities have had damage, but we expect the northern ones to have the most problems,” Monterola said.
“It’s just a breeze and it’s drizzling now.”
Man-yi is expected to “slightly weaken” into a typhoon before hitting Luzon — the country’s most populous island and economic engine — on Sunday afternoon, forecasters said.
The municipality of Panganiban in the northeast of Catanduanes took direct influence from Man-yi.
Photos posted on Mayor Cesar Robles’ Facebook page showed downed power lines, damaged houses, and trees and tarmac littering the streets.
– ‘Blast of wind’ –
“Pepito was very strong, I have never experienced a typhoon this strong,” Robles wrote, using the local name Man-yi.
“It is not safe that the wind is still blowing and there is a lot of debris.”
Man-yi is the sixth typhoon in the past month to hit the island nation. At least 163 people died in the previous storms, which also left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.
Climate change increases the strength of storms, leading to heavy rains, floods and hurricanes.
About 20 major typhoons and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian country or nearby waters every year, killing dozens of people, but it is rare for such a large number of weather events to occur in a small window.
Robert Tancino, who is a government ambulance driver in the municipality of Tiwi in the province of Albay, opposite Catanduanes, said that his area appears to be unharmed.
“There are not too many fallen trees and the roads are clear. I did not see any damage to the houses here,” Tancino told AFP.
On its current track, Man-yi will pass north of Manila and sweep into the South China Sea on Monday.
Man-yi hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season — most typhoons occur between July and October.
Earlier this month, four typhoons piled up simultaneously in the Pacific region, which the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP was the first time such a phenomenon had been seen in November since records began in 1951.
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