In the Philippines, authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people from their homes and cancelled dozens of flights today, as storm Man-Yi threatened to unleash heavy rains and powerful winds that could trigger floods and storm surges.
The weather agency has raised its second-highest alert for the provinces of Catanduanes and Camarines Sur as the storm Man-Yi was heading for the eastern part of the main island of Luzon.
The storm is likely to make landfall near Catanduanes tonight or early tomorrow morning. The weather agency also warned of dangerous storm surges that could exceed 10 feet in coastal areas of Luzon.
While Man-Yi was expected to weaken as it moved over the island, it added, the storm would probably stay a typhoon until it reached the South China Sea.
Packing winds of 185kph, the Category 5 storm was heading for the eastern part of the main and largest island of Luzon, spurring the weather agency to raise its second-highest alert for the provinces of Catanduanes and Camarines Sur.
Dozens of flights in the eastern Visayas region facing the Pacific Ocean were cancelled over the weekend due to the storm, which is forecast to hit land around the island province of Catanduanes on Saturday night or early Sunday.
Nearly 180,000 people in the central region of Bicol have been evacuated, data from the disaster agency showed. Man-yi, locally known as Pepito, would be the sixth tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in a month.