Super Typhoon Mangkhut threatens China

As the US braces for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, a super typhoon is set to wreak havoc on south east Asia in the coming days before moving on to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut, which is currently the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane and gaining further strength, is tracking towards the Philippines island of Luzon.

CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said Mangkhut will come “dangerously close to clipping” Luzon, before continuing on to more densely populated areas, such as Hong Kong and Macau.

“Hong Kong as of the forecast now will be on the right quadrant of the storm with the greatest impacts from wind, rain and storm surge along that coast line,” he said.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is predicted to come within 80km of Hong Kong, but “the Hong Kong Observatory said it was too early to predict a direct hit”, according to the South China Morning Post.

Forecasters say the storm will be packing winds of up to 220km per hour (136 mph) when it reaches Hong Kong, which is equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is then expected to make landfall on the heavily populated coast of Guangdong province in southern China, potentially displacing tens of millions of people.

Much like the situation facing the US, there are several smaller storms in the region at the moment as well, including the smaller Typhoon Barijat which is currently tracking about 100km south of Hong Kong.