Super Typhoon Man-Yi has swept the Philippines' main island of Luzon, threatening heavy rain in the capital region Metro Manila, after triggering more than a million evacuations and damaging buildings in several areas.
Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and ripped off corrugated iron roofing, and it is the sixth major storm to hit the disaster-weary country in the past month.
More than 650,000 people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the national weather service warned of a "potentially catastrophic and life-threatening" impact from the storm.
"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 who followed evacuation orders.
"We have children with us and we are scared," she said.
Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour after making landfall on lightly populated Catanduanes island late on Saturday.
Waves up to 14 metres high pummelled the shore of Catanduanes, while Manila and other vulnerable coastal regions were at risk from storm surges reaching up to more than 3 metres over the next 48 hours, the forecaster said.
"There have been no reported casualties, perhaps because people followed the evacuation orders," Catanduanes provincial disaster operations chief Roberto Monterola told AFP on Sunday, as clean-up efforts on the island got underway.
"All the towns sustained damage, but we expect those in the north to have more problems," Mr Monterola said.
"It's just a breeze and a drizzle now."
State weather agency PAGASA said the storm was set to slightly weaken.
"Significant weakening will occur during the passage of this tropical cyclone over mainland Luzon today," it said in a statement.
Thousands flee to safety
Earlier, the government had urged people to heed warnings to flee to safety.
"If pre-emptive 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," Interior Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said.
In Albay province, Legazpi City grocer Myrna Perea sheltered with her husband and their three children in a school classroom alongside nine other families after they were ordered to leave their shanty.
[MAP]Conditions were hot and cramped — the family spent Friday night sleeping together on a mat under the classroom's single ceiling fan — but Ms 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," Ms Perea, 44, told AFP.
"Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is we do not lose a family member."
Dozens killed in recent storms
At least 163 people died in the five storms that pounded the Philippines in recent weeks, leaving thousands homeless and wiping out crops and livestock.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the South-East Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
In Northern Samar province, disaster officer Rei Josiah Echano lamented that damage caused by typhoons was the root cause of poverty in the region.
"Whenever there's a typhoon like this, it brings us back to the medieval era, we go [back] to square one," Echano told AFP, as the province prepared for the onslaught of Man-yi.
The mayor of Naga city in Camarines Sur province imposed a curfew from midday on Saturday in a bid to force residents indoors.
All vessels — from fishing boats to oil tankers — were ordered to stay in port or return to shore.
Nearly 4,000 people were stranded after the coast guard shut 55 ports.
The volcanology agency also warned heavy rain dumped by Man-yi could trigger flows of volcanic sediment, or lahars, from three volcanoes, including Taal, south of Manila.
Man-yi hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season — most cyclones develop between July and October.
Earlier this month, four storms were clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin, which the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP on Saturday was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951.
AFP/Reuters
