MANILA, Phillippines — A thick ring of powerful, rotating thunderstorms surround typhoon Ompong (international name Mangkhut), according to the NASA-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Suomi NPP satellite. The satellite passed directly over the typhoon and looked into its almost 30 nautical-mile-wide eye as it heads toward northern Philippines. The JTWC has classified "Ompong" as a super typhoon with powerful winds and gusts equivalent to a category 5 Atlantic hurricane. "Ompong" is forecasted to make landfall over northern Cagayan by Saturday morning and make a second landfall south of Hong Kong, China on Sunday. Nearly 48,000 houses in those high-risk areas are made of light materials and vulnerable to Ompong's ferocious winds.

Source: Philippine Star September 14, 2018 03:15 UTC