Typhoon slams Philippines as Mangkhut claims first victims

At least two people have been killed by Typhoon Mangkhut, known locally as Ompong, which slammed into the Philippines early Saturday morning, bringing ferocious gale-force winds and pounding rains.

Both victims were women, killed when a rain-drenched hillside collapsed on them, according to the French news agency AFP.

Mangkhut, the strongest storm of 2018 so far made landfall on the northern tip of the island of Luzon, at about 1:40 a.m. local time.

"Honestly, we were expecting the worst from this," Edgar Posadas, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) told CNN.



"I was praying and hoping and worried about having so much casualties. But I think after Yolanda, after Haiyan [the international name for Yolanda], there were a lot of lessons that were learned in terms of preparedness, early warnings, preemptive evacuations... and this went a long way."

More than 6,000 people died when Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines five years ago, the worst in a generation. That storm displaced nearly 4 million people. Many of the survivors ran short of food, water and medicine almost immediately.

But as Typhoon Mangkhut passes over the south-eastern nation, there are still fears more could have perished.



Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told CNN that the casualties were rescue workers and that there had been 51 landslides across the region as a result of the storm which is now pounding the Philippines with heavy rain.

Mangkhut's eye is now over water in the South China Sea and making its way toward Hong Kong and southern China.

The latest information from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center has Mangkhut with sustained winds of 195 kph with gusts near 240 kph.

It forecasts the storm will pass around 150 km (95 miles) south of Hong Kong as it moves to the northwest with typhoon-force winds.

Heavy rain and winds are expected in Hong Kong during the morning hours, picking up in intensity through early afternoon and not tapering off until early Monday morning.

Typhoon Mangkhut will make another landfall on Sunday night in the Chinese province of Guandong near the cities of Yangjiang and Zhanjiang.

From there the system will continue to move westward and will rain itself out over northern Vietnam, which could lead to some flooding there early next week.

Meanwhile, the death toll is expected to rise in the Philippines as Mangkhut leaves a wake of destruction and landslides.

The Philippines military is sending two C-130 airplanes and 10 helicopters to Cagayan province for typhoon relief and rescue efforts, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Saturday, according to Philippine News Agency (PNA).

They'll fly from Manila once the weather improves, Lorenzana said, carrying aid and allowing rescuers to reach remote areas of the mountainous north.

Earlier, in the provincial capital Tuguegarao, strong winds lashed buildings, pulling off entire roofs and throwing large chunks of debris into the air.

cnn.com