World

Typhoon Mangkhut: Millions in Philippines braced for storm

September 13, 2018 4:21 pm

Thousands of people have begun evacuating from coastal areas of the Philippines as a super typhoon heads towards the country.

Typhoon Mangkhut, which is 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.

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Ten million people are in the path of the storm, along with millions more in coastal areas of southern China.

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The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year. Forecasters say Mangkhut is the strongest so far in 2018 – 900km in diameter, with sustained winds of at least 209 km/h.

The storm, which was earlier packing winds of 255km/h (160mph) as a Category 5, has already blasted through the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.