Typhoon Matmo roared ashore in northern Philippines on Friday, strengthening as it hit and threatening to unleash torrential rains—just as the country struggles to recover from two deadly storms in the past two weeks.
Matmo, known locally as Paolo, is churning with sustained winds of up to 81 miles per hour near San Guillermo in Isabela province, the national weather agency Pagasa warned in its latest advisory.
Government offices and schools across northern Luzon shut down Friday as Typhoon Matmo loomed, GMA News reported. The Civil Aviation Authority said more than a dozen domestic flights were also canceled.
Matmo is expected to dump more than 8 inches of rain over Isabela, Aurora, and Quirino provinces, the weather agency warned, cautioning that dangerous flooding and landslides are likely across the region.
After sweeping across Luzon, Matmo is expected to move back into the South China Sea, where warm waters and light winds could help the storm gather strength again, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The Hong Kong Observatory warns that Matmo is on track to strengthen into a severe typhoon, with sustained winds of up to 155 kilometers per hour—equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane—before slamming into southern China’s Leizhou Peninsula.
Heavy to torrential rains are expected this weekend through Monday across parts of Hainan Island and coastal areas of Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guangdong, the China Meteorological Administration said. The agency warned that farmland and crops could take a hit, issuing a yellow alert—the lowest of three levels—for potential damage from flooding and windstorms. Guangxi and Yunnan, both major sugar-producing regions, are seen as especially vulnerable.
Typhoon Bualoi recently claimed at least 12 lives in Vietnam and 27 more in the Philippines. Just weeks earlier, Super Typhoon Ragasa—the strongest storm anywhere in the world this year—carved a path of destruction from the Philippines to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The Philippines ranks among the world’s most storm-prone nations, with roughly 20 cyclones sweeping through each year. In 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the country, claiming over 6,000 lives.
