SUPER Typhoon Pepito slammed into Luzon on Sunday, with the national weather agency warning the public to brace for flooding, landslides and huge waves.

Pepito, internationally code-named Man-yi, was packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour after making its first landfall late Saturday on Catanduanes island.

More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Pepito as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned of a "life-threatening" impact from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather.

The typhoon uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes.

No deaths have been reported, but there was extensive damage to structures on Catanduanes, Office of Civil Defense chief Ariel Nepomuceno said.

"Significant weakening" was expected as Pepito crossed Luzon, but severe flooding and landslides were expected because of "intense to torrential" rain.

On its current trajectory, the storm will cross north of Metro Manila and sweep over the South China Sea on Monday.

Forecasters also warned storm surges of up to more than 3 meters could swamp vulnerable coastal communities.

The typhoon was tracked near Nagtipunan, Quirino, moving northwestward at 25 kilometers per hour.

In Pagasa's 5 p.m. bulletin Sunday, Signal No. 5 was still up over the central portion of Aurora, the southern portion of Quirino, and the southern portion of Nueva Vizcaya.

Signal No. 4 was hoisted over the rest of Aurora, the rest of Nueva Vizcaya, the rest of Quirino, the southern portion of Ifugao, Benguet, the southern portion of Ilocos Sur, La Union, the eastern portion of Pangasinan, and the northern portion of Nueva Ecija.

Under Signal No. 3 were the southern portion of Isabela, the rest of Ifugao, Mountain Province, the southern portion of Kalinga, the southern portion of Abra, the rest of Ilocos Sur, the rest of Pangasinan, the northern and eastern portions of Tarlac, the rest of Nueva Ecija, the northern portion of Bulacan, and the northern portion of Quezon, including Polillo Island.

Metro Manila, the rest of Isabela, the southwestern portion of mainland Cagayan, the rest of Kalinga, the southern portion of Apayao, the rest of Abra, Ilocos Norte, Zambales, the rest of Tarlac, the northern portion of Bataan, Pampanga, the rest of Bulacan, Rizal, the northeastern portion of Laguna, and the central portion of Quezon were under Signal No. 2.

Signal No. 1 was still up over the rest of mainland Cagayan, the rest of Apayao, the rest of Bataan, Cavite, the rest of Laguna, Batangas, the rest of Quezon, the northern portion of Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Islands, the northern portion of Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, and the northern portion of Camarines Sur.

Pepito made a second landfall near Dipaculao, Aurora, at 3:20 p.m. Sunday.

It is the sixth storm in the past month to batter the country. At least 163 people died in the previous storms, which also left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over the weekend directed government frontline agencies involved in the delivery of basic and health services, preparedness/response to disasters and calamities, and/or the performance of other vital services to "prepare for the worst-case scenario."

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Sunday that 514,576 individuals in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Eastern Visayas and the Cordillera Administrative Region — have been evacuated ahead of Pepito.

The NDRRMC said the typhoon had disrupted life in 19 provinces, 211 cities/municipalities, and 2,152 barangay

It said 111,000 persons sought shelter in 566 evacuation centers.

At least 54 roads, bridges, and public facilities were damaged by the typhoon, and the initial estimate of damage was P469.85 million.

Eleven cities and towns have been placed under a state of calamity.

In Cagayan, 12 houses and a chapel were destroyed when a tornado ripped through Santa Cruz and Bagu in Pamplona town on Sunday at the height of the typhoon.

The same tornado earlier smashed houses in Macanaya and Aparri,

Power was cut in 75 municipalities but had been restored in 72 percent of the affected areas. Seventeen municipalities continued to experience communication problems because of downed lines.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) canceled 67 domestic and 18 international flights for Nov. 17 and 18.

Cebu Pacific grounded eight domestic flights.

Speaker Martin Romualdez said the House of Representatives is ready to help the districts affected by Pepito.

"We are just waiting for our members' report and [information on] how much the damage is in their respective areas so that funds can be released for the victims of the typhoon," he said.

He said 24 trucks carrying food, hygiene kits, clothing and other relief goods were set to leave the Batasang Pambansa for Bicol on Monday.

With Pepito threatening to hit Metro Manila, Malabon Mayor Jeannie Sandoval has placed the city on red alert to enable the full activation of disaster and emergency response plans.

Sandoval and City Administrator Alexander Rosete met on Saturday with the barangay chairmen to discuss preparations that included pre-emptive evacuation and activation of barangay disaster response teams.

Rosete said 13 boats and five tents were prepositioned in different villages for immediate deployment.

Telecommunications company PLDT said on Sunday it continued its relief efforts with its wireless unit Smart Communications to assist communities in Northern Luzon devastated by recent typhoons.

The group said it was expanding its offer of additional Libreng Tawag, Libreng Charge, Libreng WiFi stations and Emergency Load Assistance in affected communities.

Aside from providing communication support to communities, PLDT and Smart are also continuing to collaborate with local government units and Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Offices, such as The Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, for communications as aid with the InfoCast tool.

On Sunday, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia assured that the automated counting machines (ACMs) to be used in the next year's voting were safe from flooding.

Garcia said the more than 100,000 ACMs that have been delivered by the provider Miru Systems of South Korea were stored in the Comelec's warehouse in Biñan, Laguna.

"The warehouse is safe from flooding; it is located in a high place," he said.

BENJAMIN L. VERGARA, VINCE JACOB VISAYA, REINA C. TOLENTINO, ED PAOLO SALTING, WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL, KRISTINA MARALIT AND AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE