Super typhoon Mawar puts Philippines on alert

Nearly 5,000 people evacuated from northern province of Batanes

A satellite image shows Mawar approaching the Philippines. AP

The province of Batanes in the Philippines is bracing for a typhoon with expected wind speeds of up to 200kph, authorities said on Monday.

Typhoon Mawar has already seen nearly 5,000 villagers evacuated from coastal areas of the northernmost province and communities are undergoing near lockdown conditions, with schools and businesses closed. The nearby Cagayan province is also on alert and flights have been halted in the area.

Mawar is an example of a rare phenomenon known as a “super typhoon”. These are category five storms, the strongest in the Pacific region, and can involve wind speeds of up to 250kph.

The Philippines Office of Civil Defence is tracking the course of the typhoon, which caused devastation in the US Pacific territory of Guam last week, turning over cars, causing blackouts and toppling trees, although few casualties were reported.

Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the EU's space programme, posted an image of the eye of the storm as it neared the Philippines.

It was the strongest typhoon to hit Guam in two decades but momentarily weakened as it made landfall. Meteorologists say the typhoon then intensified after passing over the island.

Authorities in the Philippines say that even if it misses Batanes and barrels towards Taiwan it could still cause flash floods and landslides. Residents have been warned there is no room for complacency.

“Even if the sun is up, the weather is so unpredictable nowadays and could change anytime so we should always stay on the side of safety,” Assistant Secretary Raffy Alejandro of the Office of Civil Defence told AP. “We're talking here of potential threats to lives.”

“These typhoons, earthquakes and natural calamities have been a part of our lives,” Batanes Vice Governor Ignacio Villa said. “We cannot afford not to prepare because that would potentially mean the loss of lives and major damage.”

Army troops, police, firefighters and volunteer groups were standing by for search and rescue operations in northern provinces and more than a million food packs have been prepared as a contingency, officials said.

The number of displaced was expected to rise given the precautionary evacuations that were under way on Monday in flood and landslide-prone regions, Mr Alejandro said.

Mr Villa said the local government lent ropes to villagers living in high-risk communities to strengthen their houses as the typhoon approached.

About 20 typhoons and storms each year batter the Philippines archipelago, which also lies on seismic faults where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the South-East Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland, demolished about a million shanties and houses and displaced more than five million in central Philippines, one of the country's poorest regions.