President Marcos orders government to prepare for “worst case scenario,” with millions at risk from storm surges.

The Philippines has ordered the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people and canceled dozens of flights as a “potentially catastrophic” typhoon – the sixth storm in a month – approaches the archipelago.

Suffering winds of 240 km/h (149 mph), Man-yi was upgraded to a super typhoon by state weather agency PAGASA.

“Pépito is approaching peak intensity,” the agency said, using the local name for the storm expected to make landfall near Catanduanes province Saturday evening or early Sunday.

He warned of a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation” for the central Bicol region, where nearly 180,000 people have been evacuated.

Man-yi was heading toward the eastern part of the main island of Luzon, prompting PAGASA to lift its highest category 5 alert for Catanduanes and category 4 for the northern part of Camarines Sur province.

Both provinces are still recovering from deadly tropical storm Trami, which hit the country in late October.

The mayor of Naga town in Camarines Sur imposed a curfew from noon on Saturday in a bid to force residents to return home.

Civil Defense Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had ordered all government agencies to “prepare for the worst-case scenario” in areas where Man-yi is expected to strike.

At an evacuation center in Catanduanes, more than 400 people were crowded into the provincial government building in the capital, Virac, and new arrivals were sent to a gymnasium, provincial disaster official Roberto Monterola said. to the AFP news agency.

Man-yi has already forced the cancellation of dozens of flights in the Pacific Ocean-facing Eastern Visayas region.

The weather agency warned of dangerous storm surges that could exceed 3 meters (10 feet) in coastal areas of Luzon.

Torrential rains are expected in some provinces, mainly in the central Philippines.

An average of around 20 tropical storms hit the Philippines each year, bringing heavy rains, strong winds and deadly landslides.

In October, floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey killed 162 people, and 22 others were missing, according to government figures.

Four storms, including Typhoon Usagi, occurred simultaneously in the western Pacific Ocean in November for the first time since records began in 1951, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.