Ferocious super typhoon Mangkhut puts 5 million at risk in rain-sodden Philippines
Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into the Philippines’ northeastern coast yesterday, its ferocious winds and blinding rain ripping off tin roofs and knocking out power, as it ploughed through the agricultural region.
The typhoon made landfall before dawn in the coastal town of Baggao in Cagayan province on the northern tip of Luzon Island, a breadbasket of flood-prone rice plains and mountain provinces often hit by landslides.
More than 5 million people were at risk from the storm, which the Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Centre categorises as a super typhoon with powerful winds and gusts equivalent to a category 5 Atlantic hurricane.
There were no immediate reports of major damages or casualties in the region, where a massive evacuation from high-risk areas was carried out.
With a raincloud band 900km wide, combined with seasonal monsoon rains, the typhoon dumped intense rain that could set off landslides and flash floods. Storm warnings have been raised in almost all the provinces across the Luzon, including the capital, Manila, restricting sea and air travel.
A few hours after landfall, the eye of the typhoon was nearing the western coast of Luzon facing the South China Sea. Before it hit land, Mangkhut packed sustained winds of 205km/h and gusts of up to 255km/h, forecasters said.
Even if the typhoon weakens slightly after slamming ashore, its winds would remain very destructive, government forecaster Rene Paciente said.
“It can lift cars, you can’t stand, you can’t even crawl against that wind,” Paciente said yesterday.
The typhoon hit at the start of the rice and corn harvesting season in Cagayan, a major agricultural producer. The threat to agriculture comes as the Philippines tries to cope with rice shortages.
Mangkhut, the Thai word for mangosteen fruit, is the 15th storm this year to batter the Philippines.
Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7300 people dead or missing and displaced more than 5 million in the Philippines in 2013.