MANILA – Thousands of people have begun evacuating from coastal areas in the Philippines as a super typhoon heads toward the country.
Typhoon Mangkhut (local name “Ompong”) – currently a Category 4 hurricane – is due to make landfall on the northern tip of the main island of Luzon by Saturday.
Schools and offices are being closed and farmers are racing to save crops.
Ten million people are in the path of the storm, along with millions more in coastal areas of southern China.
About 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines a year. Forecasters said Ompong is the strongest so far in 2018 – 900 kilometer in diameter with sustained winds of at least 209 kilometers per hour (km/h).
The storm, which was earlier packing winds of 255 km/h, has already blasted through the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.
Authorities in the Philippines said they expect storm surges of up to 7 meters high and are warning that heavy rains could trigger landslides and flash floods.
“We are really frightened,” said Delaila Pasion, who has fled her home. “They say it is so strong, we were too scared to remain.”
“During previous monsoon rains, half of our house was destroyed so I wanted to take my grandchildren to safety,” she told journalists.
Philippine weather specialist Chris Perez said on Friday afternoon that Cagayan and Isabela provinces may expect up to 6 meters of storm surge when the typhoon makes its landfall early today.
“Fisherfolk and those with small sea crafts are advised not to venture out over the seaboards of areas with TCWS (Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal) and the eastern seaboards of Visayas and of Mindanao,” Perez said.
Perez added that the “stormy weather” is expected in areas that were placed under Signal Nos. 2 and 3.
Perez also noted that Visayas area will experience moderate to occasionally heavy rains due to the typhoone-enhanced southwest monsoon while Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao and Caraga will experience scattered light to moderate to at times heavy rains.
“Residents in these areas, especially those living near river channels, in low-lying areas and in mountainous areas, are advised to take appropriate actions against possible flooding and landslides, coordinate with local disaster risk reduction and management offices, and to continue monitoring for updates,” he said. (With Adrian Stewart Co/BBC/PN)
