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WASHINGTON - Another powerful typhoon has formed in the Pacific and late Friday was bearing down on the Northern Mariana Islands near Guam, even as a super typhoon was threatening havoc on the Philippines.
Typhoon Melor was some 305 miles (490 kilometres) east of the US territory of Guam and was tracking northwest towards the Marianas where it was supposed to slam the tiny islands at the weekend at near top intensity, according to the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Melor "is expected to cross the island chain... at near super typhoon intensity" bringing with it open-water waves of more than eight meters (29 feet), JTWC said in a briefing.
The storm was packing sustained winds of 225 kilometers per hour (140 mph) on Friday and was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours and reach 258 kilometers per hour (160 mph) by Sunday.
A typhoon warning was in effect for the Mariana islands of Saipan and Tinian, while Guam was under a tropical storm warning.
US aid officials said they had advance personnel teams in place in Guam, just south of the Marianas, and were prepared to use pre-positioned supplies there and in the US-administered Northern Mariana Islands in the event of a disaster.
"Typhoon Melor is forecast to strengthen and become a super typhoon," Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Craig Fugate told reporters in Washington.
"We are prepared to support the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam if they are struck."
Meanwhile millions of terrified flood survivors in disaster-struck Philippines hunkered down Friday as super typhoon Parma, packing gusts of 230 kilometers per hour (145 mph), was forecast to slam rural areas in the north of the main island Luzon before dawn on Saturday.
- AFP /ls
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