MANDATORY EVACUATION

Evacuation centers were overwhelmed on Catanduanes island in the typhoon-prone Bicol region, with the state weather forecaster warning of “widespread severe flooding and landslides” on Saturday.

More than 400 people were crammed into the state government building in the capital Virac, and the new arrivals were sent to a gym, state disaster officer Roberto Monterola told AFP.

Monterola said he sent troops to force about 100 households in two coastal villages near Virac to move inland for fear that storm waves could flood their homes.

“Regardless of the exact landing point, heavy rainfall, high winds and storm surges may occur in areas outside the predicted landing zone,” the forecaster said.

RETURN TO “FIRST SQUARE”

Chief Josiah Echano, a disaster officer in Northern Samar province, lamented that the damage caused by typhoons was the main cause of poverty in the region.

“Whenever there is a typhoon like this, it brings us back to the medieval period, we are back to square one,” Echano told AFP as the province braced for Man-yi’s onslaught. he said.

All ships, from fishing boats to oil tankers, were ordered to remain in port or return to shore.

The volcanological agency also warned that heavy rain poured by Man-yi could trigger the flow of volcanic sediment, or lahar, from three volcanoes, including Taal, south of Manila.

Man-yi will hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season; Most hurricanes develop between July and October.

Earlier this month, four storms clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin; It was the first time such an event had been observed in November since records began in 1951, the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP on Saturday.