Mangkhut bearing down on the northern tip of Luzon, The Philippines
The Philippines continues to evacuate thousands as soldiers and emergency workers continue to prepare shelter and emergency provisions. ‘Super’ Typhoon Mangkhut is threatening more than four million people in the northern island of Luzon.
‘Mangkhut’ is expected to make landfall on the island very early tomorrow (Saturday). Current wind speeds are up to a staggering 285 kilometers per hour (180 mph). The eye of the storm is likely to hit the northern tip of Luzon but the high winds and rains are likely to lash much of the northern island.
The massive storm, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, is prompting alerts as the storm, once across The Philippines, will then be heading for the northern coast of Vietnam, the southern coast of China and into Cambodia and northern Thailand. A second storm, Typhoon Barijat, has also hit the region. That storm, much weaker than Mangkhut, is now making landfall in northern Vietnam.
Mangkhut has already torn through the western Pacific islands of Guam and Marshall Islands where it caused widespread flooding and power losses.
Typhoon Haiyan was the last super storm to lash The Philippines, devastating a vast swath of the country killing more than 6,000. Mangkut is the strongest storm to make landfall this year.
Follow the storm HERE.
