Super typhoon Chanthu arrives in the Philippines before crawling to Taiwan

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Chanthu, known as Kiko in the Philippines, was one of the strongest storms this year, with sustained winds of 260 km / h (160 mph) before the earth fell, equivalent to the intensity of a hurricane. of the Atlantic of category 5.

It is expected to move to nearby Taiwan later Saturday, with authorities issuing sea and land warnings for southern Pingtung and Taitung County.

Chanthu made landfall over the Batanes Islands around 8:30 a.m. local time, according to the Philippine Meteorological Office PAGASA. It issued a Signal 4 warning for the Batanes area, denoting “very destructive typhoon force winds.”

The northeastern part of the Babuyan Islands, also at the northern end of the archipelago, was under a Signal 3 warning upon the arrival of the terrain, in which “destructive winds of typhoon force” were expected. , before being downgraded to Signal 2.

Affected areas can also expect torrential rainfall and a moderate to high risk of a “life-threatening storm” of 2 to 3 meters throughout Saturday. There is also a risk of rapid and landslide flooding due to heavy rains.

To the south, the capital’s subway, Manila, was warned of increased monsoon rains.

Chanthu is expected to make a route north on Saturday to Taiwan, weakening some. As of 11 a.m. local time, PAGASA said the typhoon had weakened slightly, but that it was still a dangerous system with sustained maximum winds of 205 km / h and gusts of 250 km / h (155 mph). At 2 p.m., PAGASA said the storm had weakened even further.
Chanthu was formed on Sept. 6, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm suffered one of the most extreme rapid intensification episodes ever recorded, increasing the wind speed by 80 knots in just 24 hours on September 7th. Rapid intensification is when a storm gains at least 30 knots (35 mph) in wind speed within 24 hours.
It is the second storm of the year to reach Super Typhoon status, after Surigae in April.

Taiwan on alert

Taiwan’s central meteorological office on Saturday reduced Chanthu to a medium typhoon, saying it was losing strength as it headed for the Bashi Canal separating Taiwan from the Philippines, according to Reuters.

Weather conditions are expected to decline further in Taiwan on Saturday as the storm approaches the south coast, but the Central Meteorological Bureau said it is unlikely to reach direct land.

Speaking Thursday to Taiwan’s central news agency, Central Weather Bureau forecaster Wu Wan-hua said she expected to see torrential rains in the southern part of the island.

This amount of extreme rainfall could cause rapid flooding and landslides in the highlands of Taiwan.

Taiwanese airlines canceled their domestic flights on Saturday afternoon, although it had only a limited impact on international services, according to Reuters.

As Chanthu monitors the east coast of Taiwan, the land interaction could further weaken the system, although it will remain an intense typhoon as it affects Taiwan over a 24-hour period.

The official forecast is that the system will weaken as it moves north towards China early next week. Chanthu could stagnate off the coast of Shanghai on Monday or Tuesday, which would also cause heavy rains and flooding in that region.

A twin storm threatens Vietnam

At the same time, in the South China Sea, Tropical Storm Conson will have to make landfall near Da Nang, Vietnam, during the night from Saturday to Sunday morning, local time. Vietnam has put 500,000 soldiers on hold before its arrival.

The outer bands of the storm are already bringing storms and gusty winds to the region on Friday and weather conditions will continue to deteriorate in Vietnam on Saturday as the storm approaches the coast.

While it is a much weaker storm than Super Typhoon Chanthu, Conson is expected to have sustained winds of 75 km / h (45 mph) before reaching land this weekend.

The Vietnamese government has also ordered the ships to remain in port and has prepared evacuation plans, Reuters was quoted as saying, citing state media. As many as 800,000 people in the northern provinces of Vietnam could be affected by the arrival of the storm, the fifth to hit land this year.

Conson is expected to bring widespread rainfall of 100 to 200 millimeters to the region through Monday with an isolated total of more than 250 millimeters possible. This amount of rain could cause lightning floods and mudslides on the mountainous terrain.

Earlier this week, Conson brought heavy rains and gusty winds to the Philippines. The storm swept through the central Philippines Monday afternoon through Wednesday before emerging into the South China Sea in the early hours of Thursday.

CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward, CNN Ben Westcott, Haley Brink and Reuters contributed to this article.

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