Getting ready: A man tying down the roof of his house ahead of Super Typhoon Noru’s arrival in Manila. — Reuters
SUPER Typhoon Noru slammed into the Philippines, battering the heavily populated main island of Luzon with strong winds and heavy rain that have forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 195kph as it charged towards the archipelago after an unprecedented “explosive intensification”, the state weather forecaster said.
Noru, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, made landfall in Burdeos municipality on the Polillo islands, part of Quezon province, at 5.30pm.
Videos posted on social media and verified by AFP showed trees swaying wildly as wind and rain whipped across the islands.
“We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary,” Philippine National Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin said.
The Philippines is regularly ravaged by storms, with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.
“The winds were fierce this morning,” said Ernesto Portillo, 30, who works as a cook in the coastal municipality of Infanta in Quezon.
“We secured our belongings and bought a few groceries so we have food just in case.”
The meteorology agency said the storm’s wind speeds had increased by 90kph in 24 hours.
“Typhoons are like engines – you need fuel and exhaust to function,” said weather forecaster Robb Gile.
“In the case of Karding, it has good fuel because of warm waters along its track and a good exhaust in the upper atmosphere – so it’s a good recipe for explosive intensification,” he added, using the local name for the storm.
The storm hit about 100km northeast of Manila.
Emergency personnel braced for the possibility of strong winds and heavy rain battering the capital, home to more than 13 million people. — AFP
