Typhoon Mawar tracking - updates: Thousands evacuated from Philippines coastlines ahead of ‘cyclone Betty’
✕ Close Guam emerges to find ‘major mess’ from Typhoon Mawar
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Over 4,800 people have been evacuated, schools and offices were shut and flights halted in the Philippines as typhoon Mawar inches closer to the country.
Mawar, now known as Betty locally, is expected to move “generally northwestward” after inching close to the Philippines over the next two days, the state weather agency has said in its latest update.
The storm that remained a “super typhoon” for over 60 hours last week is expected to become “slow-moving or almost stationary” from tomorrow or Wednesday, the state weather bureau said in its 5pm local time update today.
Typhoon Mawar was last spotted 445km east of Calayan island at the northern part of the Philippines, prompting alerts for heavy rains and wind and evacuations.
The typhoon was moving at 10kmh towards the northwest, and is expected to avoid a direct landfall with the Southeast Asian nation.
It currently has maximum sustained winds of 155 kmh near the centre and gusts of up to 190 kmh, considerably down from its intensity last week.
Last week, Mawar wreaked havoc on the US territory of Guam, with harsh winds and heavy rains bringing flooding, widespread damage to property and power cuts.
Source: The Independent
