Super Typhoon Man-yi slammed into the Philippines' most populous island on Sunday, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation.

Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour) after making its first landfall late Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island.

More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a "life-threatening" impact from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather.