Typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut), the biggest storm of the year, smashed through the Philippines on Saturday, claiming its first victims as two women were killed when a rain-drench hillside collapsed on them. Ompong was packing sustained winds of 170 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 260 km per hour as it left the Philippines. After blasting the Philippines, the typhoon is predicted to hurtle towards China’s heavily populated southern coast this weekend. “They [authorities]said this typhoon is twice as strong as the last typhoon, that’s why we are terrified,” Myrna Parallag, 53, said after fleeing her home in the northern Philippines. The water reached our roof,” she said, referring to when her family rode out a typhoon at home in 2016.

Source: Manila Times September 15, 2018 07:52 UTC