Super Typhoon Man-Yi barrelled across the Philippines’ main island of Luzon on Sunday, threatening heavy rain in the capital region Metro Manila, after triggering more than a million evacuations and damaging buildings in several areas.
Packing winds of 185kph, it weakened slightly after hitting land in the town of Panganiban in Catanduanes province on Saturday night to arrive over the coastal waters of Camarines Norte province by 8am, weather officials said.
“We evacuated because every time there is a typhoon, the water rises in the nearby river,” said Amalia Santisas, one those living near coastal areas in Manila, the capital, who followed evacuation orders.
“We have children with us and we are scared,” added Santisas, who was among more than a million evacuated from the typhoon’s expected path to keep them safe from storm surges.
Despite the evacuations, no casualties were reported, though the typhoon’s strong winds damaged homes, schools and commercial buildings in Catanduanes, civil defence chief Ariel Nepomuceno told Reuters.
“The rain was minimal, but the wind was very strong and had this eerie howling sound,” Roberto Monterola, a disaster-mitigation officer in Catanduanes, told reporters. “Along a main boulevard here, the tidal surges went up to more than 7 metres near the seaside houses. It looked really scary.”
