Typhoon Mangkhut: Tropical storm with winds of up to 201 mph set to crash into Philippines

Officials order precautionary evacuations and closures of schools and offices

The most powerful typhoon of the season is closing in on the northern Philippines, where officials ordered precautionary evacuations and closures of schools and offices and urged farmers to quickly harvest their crops to reduce damage.

Forecasters said Typhoon Mangkhut could hit northern Cagayan province on Saturday.

It was located about 500 miles away in the Pacific with sustained winds of 165 mph and gusts of up to 201 mph. It could maintain the strength of a super typhoon when it hits land in the northeastern corner of Luzon Island.

On Guam, residents woke up on Tuesday to flooded streets, downed trees and widespread power outages after Mangkhut passed through overnight.

The Pacific Daily News reported government agencies were conducting damage assessments and beginning to clear roads. About 80 per cent of the US territory was without power but it was restored by Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, food and water supplies were delivered to the island on the world's biggest plane, the Antonov Airlines AN-255.

The Ukraine-based cargo airline required special permission for the trip from the US Department of Transportation. According to its application last week, the airline stated "civil aircraft operated by US carriers are apparently not available to meet FEMA's requirements".

Rescuers ready their gear before Super Typhoon Mangkhut hits the main island of Luzon, in Manila (Reuters)

With a massive rain band 560 miles wide, combined with seasonal monsoon rains, the storm could bring heavy to intense rains that could set off landslides and flash floods, Philippine state forecaster Meno Mendoza said.

Cagayan governor Manuel Mamba said northern coastal and island villages in the typhoon's projected path will begin evacuating residents on Thursday ahead of the expected onslaught.

He said classes will be suspended and offices, except those involved in rescue and relief work, are advised to close on Friday.

In 2016, a super typhoon lashed the southern section of Cagayan, destroying tens of thousands of houses. Mangkhut is blowing from the Pacific and forecast to directly slam the province's northeastern coastal and island municipalities, Mr Mamba said.

"I'm stressing that this one is very different, this is more complicated because of possible storm surges," Mr Mamba said, referring to giant waves whipped inland by a typhoon.

The typhoon is arriving at the start of the rice and corn harvest season in Cagayan, a major agricultural producer, and farmers were scrambling to save what they could of their crops, Mr Mamba said. The Philippines has been trying to cope with rice shortages.

Ricardo Jalad, head of the Office of Civil Defence, said other northern provinces will also start evacuating residents from low-lying areas on Thursday.

"The worst cases are those areas which will be directly hit by strong winds that can topple houses, storm surges and heavy rains that can cause flooding, and there may be landslides in higher areas," Mr Jalad told reporters.

A missile test aboard a navy ship to be attended by President Rodrigo Duterte off northern Bataan province was cancelled due to the approaching typhoon.

After leaving the Philippines, the fast-moving storm is expected to blow towards Hong Kong and southern China on Sunday if it maintains its course, forecasters said.

Mangkhut is the 15th storm this year to batter the Philippines, which is hit by about 20 a year and is considered one of the world's most disaster-prone countries. Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over five million in the central Philippines in 2013.

Additional reporting by AP