A powerful typhoon has wrecked houses, caused towering tidal surges and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it barreled across the northern Philippines in the sixth major storm to pound the Southeast Asian country in less than a month.

Super Typhoon Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces as it swept across the storm-weary Philippines on Sunday, following an unusual streak of violent weather.