Filipinos cleared fallen trees and repaired damaged houses after the sixth major storm to hit the Philippines in the past month. The natural disaster destroyed fragile buildings, cut power and claimed the lives of at least eight people, AFP reported.
The National Weather Service had warned of a "potentially catastrophic" impact from Man-Yi, which was a super typhoon, when it hit the country at the weekend. However, President Ferdinand Marcos stated that "it was not as bad as we feared."
With maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, Man-Yi struck the island of Catanduanes late on November 16 and the main island of Luzon on the afternoon of November 17.
It uprooted trees, knocked down power lines, destroyed wooden houses and triggered landslides.
"Although Pepito was strong, the impact was not as bad as we feared. Now we will continue rescuing those who are in isolated areas and we will continue to help those who are displaced and unable to prepare their own food as well as get water," Marcos said, using the local name of Man-Yi.
The death toll from the typhoon rose to 8.
It involves a 79-year-old man who was killed in Camarines Norte after his motorcycle hit a power line, police said.
Seven people died and three were injured when a landslide buried their house in Luzon's Nueva Vizcaya province, said Christine Falcon of the provincial disaster agency.
Power outages in the island province of Catanduanes could last for months after Man-Yi toppled power poles, provincial information officer Camille Janan said.
"Catanduanes has been badly hit by the typhoon - we need food packages, hygiene kits and construction materials. Most of the houses made of light materials were razed to the ground and some houses made of concrete had their roofs, doors and windows destroyed,” Janan said.
Clearing operations are underway in the coastal town of Baler in Aurora province to remove uprooted trees and debris blocking roads and waterways.
“Most of the houses here are made of light materials, so even now, before the inspection, we expect heavy damage to many houses in the city. We also received reports of roofs being blown off by the wind last night ... it was the high winds that scared us, not exactly the heavy rains,” said disaster officer Neil Rojo. | BGNES
