At least eight people have died after super typhoon Man-Yi hit the Philippine archipelago over the weekend, unleashing fierce winds and strong rains that triggered landslides and storm surges, authorities said.
Man-Yi is the sixth storm to hit the country in a span of one month.
It made landfall in the eastern province of Catanduanes on Saturday, but weakened as it moved across the main Luzon island and was later downgraded to a typhoon as it exited the landmass on Monday.
A family of seven, including an eight-year-old girl, died after a landslide in a northern provincial town in Nueva Vizcaya buried their home, the disaster office in the area said.
Officials said soliders, police and villagers were scrambling to search for three other people who were believed to have been entombed in the avalanche of mud, boulders and uprooted trees
The Philippines has been hit by six major storms in the span of a month. Source: AAP / Aaron Favila/AP
Disaster response officials said a separate search was underway for a couple and their child after their shanty was swept away in rampaging rivers in northern Nueva Ecija province.
In Daet town in Camarines Norte province, a 72-year-old man was killed in a vehicular accident caused by hanging cables due to the storm’s strong winds, the provincial disaster office said.
“One casualty is one casualty too many. So, that is unfortunate,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told reporters, referring to the death in Camarines Norte.
“We will now carry on with the rescue of those isolated areas and the continuing relief for those who have been displaced.”
On average, about 20 tropical storms strike the Philippines each year, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, flooding, and landslides.
Man-Yi is approaching Vietnam with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometres per hour and gustiness of up to 135 kph.
–Additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press
