The sixth typhoon of the month hit the Philippines

A potentially catastrophic typhoon has struck the Philippines – the sixth typhoon to hit the country in a month.

Man-Yi, known locally as Pepito, touched down at 21:40 local time (13:40 GMT) with a maximum sustained speed of 195 km/h (121 mph) off the coast of the eastern island of Catanduanes, the state forecaster said.

It warned of “life-threatening storm surge”, heavy rains and strong winds, and hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of the storm’s arrival,

At least 160 people are known to have died in the past five typhoons.

Super Typhoon Man-Yi is expected to affect a large area, reports BBC Weather.

There will be widespread heavy rain in northern areas, with more than 300mm (11 inches) expected on Saturday and Sunday – leading to possible flooding and increasing the risk of mudslides.

Winds of up to 270km/h are expected, as well as waves of up to 15m (49ft) in areas along the east coast.

The capital, Manila, could be hit by the worst winds as the typhoon heads north, before crossing Luzon – the largest and most populous island in the Philippines – and heading for the coast on Monday.

Many flights have been canceled due to the incoming typhoon, according to local broadcaster ABS-CBN News.

At least 500,000 people are reported to have fled as the storm approaches. The head of defense in that country, Ariel Nepomuceno, has appealed to those who live in the proposed path of this storm to follow the evacuation instructions.

“It is a big danger now for those who are in areas that often collapse because the soil is full of typhoons one after the other,” said Mr. Nepomuceno.

Glenda Llamas is among those who have had to leave their homes.

“We are still very afraid of a typhoon, as it could intensify and the water could rise,” he told AFP from a shelter in the eastern province of Albay.

“If we didn’t get out, we wouldn’t be able to get out later, we don’t have anyone else in the house but us.”

“We have a lot of fear because of the previous disasters that happened here such as floods, strong winds and other disasters,” said Melchor Bilay, who was transferred to a school in the south, in Sorsogon province.

Although typhoons are rare in the Philippines, forecasters say it is unusual to see so many tropical storms in the Pacific at one time during the month of November.

Tropical Storm Trami dumped a month’s worth of rain on large parts of the northern Philippines in late October, leaving dozens dead.

This was followed by Typhoon Kong-rey, in which at least three people died. It happened again a major typhoon that hit Taiwan directly in about 30 years.

Typhoon Yinxing hit northern Luzon earlier this month, bringing about 250mm (10in) of rain to some areas.

Since then there have been Typhoon Toraji and, earlier this week, Typhoon Usagi, which brought storm surges of three meters and more than 200mm (8 inches) of rain.

The United Nations’ climate change agency, IPCC, said that although the number of tropical cyclones occurring around the world is unlikely to increase as a result of the warning planet, it is “very likely” that they will have higher levels of rainfall and reach higher levels. wind speed.

This means that a large part will reach the strongest stages.