On Saturday, November 16, Philippine authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 250,000 people and the return to docking of all ships, from fishing vessels to oil tankers, in the face of the approach of super typhoon Man-yi, which is hitting the archipelago from the east. The national meteorological agency, which reclassified Man-yi, warned of gusts of wind with consequences “from important to serious” and life-threatening storm surge.
Near the sparsely populated island of Catanduanes in the east of the country, where Man-yi is expected to make landfall between the second half of Saturday and early Sunday, high tides of up to fourteen meters are forecast.
The super typhoon, with winds of up to 215 km/h, will be the sixth major storm to hit the Philippines in a month. Previous attacks have killed at least 163 people, left thousands homeless, destroyed crops and killed livestock.
About twenty major storms and typhoons a year
Some 255,000 people have already been evacuated from areas vulnerable to landslides, floods and storm surges, Interior Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said Saturday.
“If a preventive evacuation is necessary, let’s implement it and not wait for the hour of danger to evacuate or seek help, because (…) “We would be putting not only our lives in danger, but also those of our rescuers.”declared.
Every year, around 20 major storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters, killing dozens of people, but it is rare for several such weather events to occur in a short period of time.
Scientists say climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, causing heavier rain, flash flooding and more violent gusts.
