The population of the Philippines is on full alert for the arrival of Typhoon Mangkhut, which is currently making its way across the Pacific. The typhoon has a diameter of over 885 kilometres and its winds have reached speeds of over 270 kilometres per hour. According to experts, it is equivalent to a category 5 hurricane.

According to Brandon Miller, a meteorologist at CNN, Typhoon Mangkhut (known locally as Ompong) is "bigger, stronger and more damaging" than Hurricane Florence, which is currently battering North Carolina. "Any territory it passes through directly will experience a more significant and destructive impact." He adds, however, that the US East Coast has a far higher population density and concentration of infrastructure.

Typhoon Mangkhut's path

Yesterday — reports the New York Times, which is following the event in real time — Typhoon Mangkhut passed over the island of Guam, knocking down trees and electricity pylons and leaving 80 per cent of buildings without power. In less than 24 hours it is expected to strike Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the archipelago, which is home to the capital Manila. Around four million people live in the affected area.

CNN ✓ @CNN

𝕏

Video shows Super Typhoon Mangkhut tearing through Guam, in the western Pacific.

It has caused widespread flooding and power loss, with parts of the US territory still without electricity on Thursday morning. cnn.it/2CQmnVc

♥ 950💬 52 13 set 2018 · Apri su X →

After the Philippines, the typhoon is forecast to reach Hong Kong on Sunday — where no atmospheric event of such violence has been seen in around sixty years — before hitting the southern provinces of China (Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan) on Monday morning. Residents in these territories have already been urged by authorities to take appropriate precautions and stay as informed as possible about developments. In recent hours China was also struck by Typhoon Barijat, much smaller than Mangkhut, and 12,000 people have already been evacuated.

Bloomberg ✓ @business

𝕏

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is forecast to slam across the Philippines and then head to Hong Kong, China and Vietnam bloom.bg/2N8Ggf7

♥ 20💬 1 14 set 2018 · Apri su X →

The Philippines works to keep the population safe

In the Philippines, schools have been closed, homes and businesses have boarded up their windows and the armed forces have been placed on alert. On the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, emergency supplies of food, equipment and medicine have been stockpiled in the areas that will be most directly affected.

Thousands of people — particularly children and the elderly — have been evacuated from their homes and have taken refuge at collection points, located mainly in schools. Airports have also been closed and an estimated 4,800 passengers are stranded in ports. Hundreds of bulldozers have already been deployed to deal with the possibility of landslides. Duterte has already warned that the country's agricultural sector could be severely damaged, given that the rice and maize harvest is just beginning at this time of year. Farmers in the region are rushing to harvest as much as possible before the typhoon passes.

The terrible precedent of Haiyan

It is impossible not to recall 2013, when Typhoon Haiyan — which experts said had a force comparable to that of Mangkhut — swept through the Philippines, causing over 6,000 deaths. Known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, Haiyan had struck over one million homes, destroying more than 551,000 of them. At the time, the Visayas archipelago was affected — a more densely populated area than the northern part of the Philippines.

Read also: Da Katrina e Sandy a Bhola e Nargis. Alcuni tra i peggiori uragani della storia

The northern part of the island of Luzon was also devastated in 2016 by Typhoon Haima (known locally as Layin), which — according to CNN — had destroyed 14,000 homes and damaged around 50,000 more.

Opening photo © TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images