The death toll from Typhoon Man-yi, which struck the Philippines over the weekend, has risen to 12, according to a report from the national disaster agency on Thursday. This increase follows the subsiding of widespread flooding caused by the storm.
An initial report released on Monday indicated eight fatalities after Man-yi inundated villages and destroyed fragile structures across the archipelago, with winds reaching speeds of up to 185 kilometers per hour. This marks the sixth major tropical storm to impact the Philippines within just one month.
In total, these storms have resulted in at least 175 deaths and displaced thousands of individuals, while wreaking havoc on crops and livestock. Most victims of Man-yi were found in mountainous regions north of the capital, Manila.
Notably, seven individuals lost their lives in a landslide that buried their home in Nueva Vizcaya province. Additionally, a rock collapsed onto another house in the coastal town of Dipaculao—where Man-yi made landfall for the second time—trapping three people inside, as reported by Ariel Nepomuceno, an official from the civil defense office. Four individuals are still missing, he added.
“We are now entering the reconstruction phase; people have begun repairing their homes,” Nepomuceno stated. “Construction materials have arrived in the most affected provinces.” In Tuguegarao City, located in the northern part of the country, floodwaters resulting from dam releases and rising levels of the Cagayan River have started to recede after submerging thousands of homes in the days following the typhoon.
Each year, around twenty powerful storms and deadly typhoons strike the Philippines or its surrounding waters; however, it is unusual for multiple such events to occur within a short timeframe, particularly this late in the year.
