A powerful typhoon Man-yi locally known as Pepito, has caused significant damage in the Philippines as towering tidal surges wrecked houses and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it cut across the northern Philippines today. This is the sixth major storm to hit the country in less than a month.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the typhoon, which was forecast to blow northwestwards later today across northern Luzon, the archipelago’s most populous region.
The entire province of Catanduanes had no power after the typhoon knocked down trees and electricity posts.
Man-yi is approaching areas that have been hit hard by the five overlapping typhoons since last October. At least 160 people are known to have died in these five previous storms.
The typhoon is expected to move away to the South China Sea tonight or tomorrow morning.
The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. It’s often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.