CASIGURAN, Philippines, Oct. 17 (UPI) — The center of Super Typhoon Koppu made landfall in the Philippines at 1:00 a.m. local time, nearly two days after it’s outer bands first started beating the country’s coastline.
Koppu, known as Lando in the Philippines, was upgraded to super typhoon status, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, about two hours before the center of the storm came ashore, reported The Weather Channel.
The storm is moving at just under 2 miles per hour and is expected to slowly rake its way across the country’s northern island, Luzon, where nearly half the Philippines population lives. Forecasters expect the storm will continue on a path eastward across nearly the entire island before it turns north.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, or PAGASA, in a forecast warned residents closest to Koppu’s center to expect significant damage to structures and potential devastation to trees, plants and crops.
Forecasters said the storm had a chance to intensify significantly before hitting land because of its slow movement, which bodes even worse for residents of the islands. They’ve already been through days of rain, which is likely to last at least two or three more days.
“The combination of low wind shear, warm ocean waters that extend to great depth and the presence of two impressive upper level outflow channels will support continued intensification right up until landfall,” according to Dr. Jeff Masters, a forecaster at Weather Underground. “Extreme winds, a large storm surge, and heavy rains are all major threats from Koppu, but it is the storm’s rains that will cause most of the storm’s destruction. Recent satellite estimates showed Koppu’s maximum rainfall rate was likely 20 inches of rain per 24 hours.”
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