Tens of thousands flee as Super Typhoon Man-yi nears Philippines

As Super Typhoon Man-yi approached the storm-weary archipelago nation of the Philippines, authorities ordered all vessels back to shore and residents of coastal areas to evacuate their homes. At least 163 people have been killed by Man-yi, the sixth powerful typhoon to hit the Philippines in the last month, which has also destroyed crops and cattle and left others homeless. The state weather forecaster warned of “significant to severe impacts” from the winds and “life-threatening” storm surges as the strong storm strengthened into a super typhoon on Saturday.

Later on Saturday or early Sunday, Man-yi was expected to crash with the thinly populated island province of Catanduanes with wind gusts of up to 215 km/h (133 mph). The interior undersecretary, Marlo Iringan, announced on Saturday that over 255,000 people had already been evacuated from their houses in areas that are susceptible to landslides, flooding, and storm surges, and she urged others to follow evacuation instructions.

“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,” he said. 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,” Perea, 44, said.

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

Numerous people are killed by the roughly 20 powerful storms and typhoons that strike the south-east Asian country or its neighboring oceans each year, but it is uncommon for several of these weather phenomena to occur within a brief timeframe. The state weather forecaster warned of “widespread incidents of severe flooding and landslides” on Saturday, and evacuation centers were starting to fill up on Catanduanes island in the typhoon-prone Bicol area. According to provincial disaster officer Roberto Monterola, over 400 people were crammed inside the provincial government building in the capital, Virac, with newcomers being directed to a gymnasium.

“The Rawis gym has a history of typhoon damage so people are afraid to go there,” Monterola said. “The upper walls are made of glass which could shatter if hit by a strong gust of wind and they could get injured.”