Super Typhoon Mangkhut, the strongest storm to hit the planet in 2018, made landfall in the Philippines on Saturday, September 15th at 1:40 AM, Philippine time. Locally known as Typhoon Ompong, the storm is equivalent to a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, and is the 15th storm to hit the Philippines in 2018. The 550 mile-wide storm brought torrential rains and battering winds, with wind speeds reaching up to 120 miles per hour and wind gusts up to 170 miles per hour. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) predicted storm surges reaching up to 20 feet in several coastal provinces, and landslides and flash floods posed severe threats to villages across the main island of Luzon.
The typhoon initially hit the town of Baggao in Cagayan Province, and the highest typhoon alert was issued to the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Kalinga, and Isabela. More than 4 million people are in the path of Mangkhut, and more than 30,000 people were evacuated from low-lying villages. The storm had devastated the nation’s agricultural sector since it was the height of rice and corn harvests, with an estimated loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue at most. The capital city of Manila, however, was spared with the worst of the storm; receiving warnings of strong winds, moderate rain, and flood warnings for low-lying areas.
The death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue continues. As of September 21st, the Philippine National Police recorded 79 deaths from the Cordillera Administrative Region, ten from Cagayan Valley, three from Central Luzon, two from Metro Manila, and one from Ilocos Region, with 69 wounded individuals and 54 missing people. 60 people were killed in the village of Itogon in Benguet Province after a landslide buried a chapel with miners and their families who had evacuated their homes. In Naga, Cebu, 88 people were killed by a landslide triggered by heavy rains. The nation braces for the effects of the upcoming typhoon Trami, which is expected to hit Taiwan in the following days.
Donate to the victims of Typhoon Mangkhut:
Global Giving’s Typhoon Mangkhut Relief Fund
Sources:
“Super Typhoon Mangkhut: Alerts Issued As Storm Nears the Philippines” – CNN
“Typhoon Slams Into the Philippines” – The New York Times
“Super Typhoon Mangkhut Makes Landfall in the Philippines” – Al Jazeera
“Super Typhoon Mangkhut, 2018’s Strongest Storm, to Slam into Philippines” – Washington Post
“Philippine Villages Buried by Landslide After Typhoon Mangkhut” – The Guardian
“At Least 95 Dead due to Typhoon Ompong” – Rappler