Millions of people in the Philippines were on high alert yesterday for one of the strongest typhoons to ever hit the disaster-battered country, with authorities warning of giant storm surges and destructive winds.
Super Typhoon Haima was forecast to hit remote communities in the far north of the country later, bringing winds almost on a par with catastrophic Super Typhoon Haiyan that claimed more than 7,350 lives in 2013.
“We only pray we be spared the destruction such as the previous times, which brought agony and suffering,” President Rodrigo Duterte said in Beijing, where he is currently on a four-day visit.
“But we are ready. Everything has been deployed.”
Haima has a weather band of 800 kilometres putting more than 10mn people across the northern parts of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon within its reach, according to the government’s disaster risk management agency.
Haima was approaching the Philippines with sustained winds of 225 kilometres an hour and gusts of 315 kilometres an hour, according to the state weather bureau.
Authorities warned coastal communities to expect storm surges of five metres or higher.
“It’s already started. The wind is strong, the waves are big,” said Julie Hermano, manager of a small resort in Santa Ana, a coastal town of about 30,000 people that is in the typhoon’s direct path.
“Some residents have been panic-buying food in markets because we were told it’s going to be a super typhoon.
We’ve already tied down our water tank and prepared our (power) generator set.”
The Philippine islands are often the first major landmass to be hit by storms that generate over the Pacific Ocean.
The Southeast Asian archipelago endures about 20 major storms each year, many of them deadly.
The most powerful and deadliest was Haiyan, which destroyed entire towns in heavily populated areas of the central Philippines.
“We are possibly dealing with a typhoon that is even stronger than Typhoon Yolanda (as Haiyan was known in the Philippines) in 2013.
We must therefore brace ourselves for the possible effects of a typhoon of this magnitude,” government executive secretary Salvador Medialdea said in a statement. “We call on all government agencies to be on highest level of preparedness and to take all necessary precautions.”
In the northern regions expected to be worst hit, tens of thousands of people sought refuge in schools and other makeshift evacuation centres as authorities raised the highest “signal five” typhoon alert.
Flights to the north were also suspended and schools were closed.
Power to some areas was cut off late yesterday as strong winds heralding Haima’s landfall brought down electricity lines.
The Philippine capital of Manila is about 450 kilometres south of where Haima is forecast hit. Authorities said the city, with about 12mn people, was not expected to be badly affected although it would experience some rain.
Haima is forecast to have passed over the Philippines by tomorrow and then track towards southern China.
Haima is the second typhoon to hit the northern Philippines in a week, after Sarika struck on Sunday claiming at least one life and leaving three people 
missing.


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