Typhoon Man-yi regained strength on Sunday afternoon, bringing heavy rain and powerful winds to the Philippines, hours after making landfall in a nation still recovering from a series of recent storms that killed more than 160 people and caused widespread damage.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 150 miles per hour, equivalent to the force of a Category 4 hurricane, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center on Sunday.
Man-yi made first made landfall on Saturday night with the force of a Category 5 hurricane, then was downgraded to a Category 4, with maximum sustained winds of 138 miles per hour. But it strengthened again through Sunday morning and early afternoon, prompting the government to warn people that the storm could be a “potentially dangerous and life threatening situation.”
Man-yi made landfall on Catanduanes, an island near Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island. Philippine officials rushed to evacuate residents, warning that the storm could bring landslides, flooding and storm surge throughout Luzon and the central Bicol region.
The state news agency said early Sunday that more than 2,600 passengers had been stranded in ports around the Bicol area. Over 850,000 people were evacuated, the news agency said on Sunday morning.
The storm, called Pepito in the Philippines, knocked out electricity in Catanduanes on Saturday, according to the state news agency, which shared videos from residents of heavy rain and wind.
There were air travel disruptions as well. Cebu Pacific, a Philippine airline, canceled more domestic and international flights as the storm approached.
Forecasters said that some areas, including Catanduanes, were expected to receive more than seven inches of rain by noon on Sunday, and they warned of potentially severe flooding and landslides.
Heavy rain is expected to fall through Monday evening, they said. A storm surge of up to 10 feet could hit low-lying or exposed coastal areas, officials said.
Jonvic Remulla, the interior secretary of the Philippines, said on Saturday that the surge could reach as high as 23 feet, and that he had requested the local authorities to evacuate residents from areas less than 33 feet above sea level.
Recent storms have stretched the country’s resources for disaster relief. The last storm to hit the nation was Typhoon Usagi, known as Ofel there, which made landfall on Thursday. Before that, Toraji, Trami, Yinxing and Kong-rey unleashed floods and landslides over the past month.
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