Super Typhoon Mangkhut: TERRIFYING map shows Super Typhoon barreling towards Hong Kong

Super Typhoon Mangkhut, Typhoon Ompong for residents of the Philippines, is barreling towards the western Pacific islands with winds of up to 240km per hour. 

Thousands of people are being evacuated ahead of the typhoon.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre in Hawaii and Hong Kong Observatory categorised the storm as a ‘super typhoon’ with winds up to 240km per hour.

The typhoon could hit Cagayan province on Saturday.

10 million people are living in its path, according to the Red Cross. People are boarding up buildings and stocking up on food.

Mangkhut is the 15th and strongest storm this year to batter the Philippines.

Mangkhut will bring heavy winds of up to 130mph and a storm surge of up to 23ft, greatly surpassing the strength of Hurricane Florence.

Hurricane Florence, which was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane, brought winds of 90mph and a 10ft storm surge to the American East Coast on Friday.

In Asia, Philippine authorities have carried out mass evacuations across the country, warning residents to stay indoors this weekend before the devastating typhoon strikes.

Pictures from NOAA show the storm heading towards the northernmost tip of the Philippines, continuing its path since it struck Micronesia earlier this week.

More than 9,000 residents in the northern provinces of Cagayan and Isabela have been moved to temporary shelters, as super typhoon Mangkhut is set to bring catastrophic destruction to the region.

Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba told ANC: “Last time we had a super typhoon, there were 14,000-plus of totally destroyed houses and about 40,000-plus of partially destroyed houses,” he told news channel ANC.

“We expect this kind of damage with a super typhoon like this and so we would ask the assistance of the national government and even the private sector.”

Locals are scrambling to prepare themselves for the disastrous effects of super typhoon Mangkhut which is set to wreak havoc across the country.

Many were seen tying their houses down rope and placing wooden slates and rubber tyres on their roofs, to secure their make-shift thatched houses before super typhoon Mangkhut hits this weekend.

Mangkhut has already torn through Guam and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, causing widespread flooding and power loss.