Manila - Philippine authorities on Wednesday raised the alert for a powerful typhoon barrelling towards the country ahead of Easter holidays.
Typhoon Maysak was packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 250 kph as it moved towards the Philippines’ eastern coast at a speed of 17 kph, the weather bureau said.
The cyclone was expected to bring heavy rains, choppy seas and strong winds by Friday evening before making landfall in the northern Philippines on the weekend, it added.
Alexander Pama, head of the national disaster risk management council, urged Filipinos who would be travelling during the Easter holidays to prepare for the typhoon.
“We don’t want to be a kill-joy, but the warning is for the safety of everyone especially the tourists,” he said.
Millions of Filipinos return to their home provinces or take vacations starting Holy Wednesday until Easter Sunday.
Armed forces Chief of Staff General Pio Catapang expressed concern that tourists might not know the location of evacuation centres in the areas they plan to spend the holidays.
“This is quite a difficult typhoon because we also have to worry about the Holy Week holiday travellers in certain places that might be hit by the storm,” he said.
Maysak is the third typhoon in the Philippines this year, and the first in many decades to hit during the Easter holidays.
Sapa-DPA