A wide swath of the Philippines, including the capital Manila, braced Friday for a dangerously erratic and powerful typhoon approaching from the Pacific, about a year after the country was lashed by Typhoon Haiyan that left more than 7,300 people dead.
Typhoon Hagupit Filipino for “smash” strengthened overnight with its sustained winds intensifying to 215 kilometers (134 miles) per hour and gusts of 250 kph (155 mph). The local weather agency PAGASA’s forecasts show the typhoon may hit Eastern Samar province late Saturday or early Sunday.
But a forecast by the U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii said Hagupit (pronounced HA’-goo-pit) may veer northward after making landfall and possibly threaten Manila, which has population of more than 12 million people.
“We have alerted the people of Manila and we’re ready,” Mayor Joseph Estrada said, while acknowledging “these typhoons change direction all the time.”
It is currently 450 kilometers (280 miles) from the country’s eastern coast in the Pacific Ocean and moving slowly.
If the first forecast holds, Hagupit’s path will send it barreling inland into central Philippines along the same route where Typhoon Haiyan leveled villages and left more than 7,300 dead and missing in November last year.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/panic-grips-coastal-areas-as-typhoon-hagupit-approaches-phillipines/
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