Mindanao bracing for 260 to 315 kph winds from Super Typhoon 'Pablo'

Naga City (1:00 AM Dec 4, 2012) - Super typhoon 'Pablo' (International Name: Bopha) has intensified further few hours before its expected landing somewhere in Surigao del Sur or Davao Oriental.

At midnight today (one hour ago), its center was spotted 173 km East Southeast of Bislig City in Surigao del Sur.

Typhoon expert David Michael V. Padua of Weather.com.ph projects that Pablo shall be an 'extremely catastrophic Category 5 Supertyphoon' when it hits land somewhere along Cateel Bay, Davao Oriental at 4-6 AM today as it packs a sustained center wind of 260 km/hour and gusts up to 315 kph .

Pablo is almost 3 times the strength of Sendong that crossed North-Central Mindanao on December 16, 2011 wiping out entire villages and leaving 1200 dead.

This Super Tyhoon can become the most devastating typhoon ever to hit Mindanao since Super Typhoon Kate (Titang) in October 1970.

The government and private entities have braced for Pablo over the past several days with the best preparation and disaster preparedness plans it can muster. Rainfall caused by Pablo is classified as Extreme at 400 mm over 24 hours.

On the forecast track, the core of Bopha is expected to make landfall along the Davao Oriental-Surigao Del Sur Border this morning (approx. 4-6 am Manila Time)...and cross Surigao Del Sur, Agusan Del Sur and Misamis Oriental Tuesday morning until the early afternoon, passing over or very close to Cagayan De Oro City between 1-2 pm. By Tuesday evening, Bopha should emerge over the Bohol Sea near the coast of Misamis Occidental, and then traverse Southern Coast of Negros passing just south of Dumaguete City between 6 to 8 pm. This typhoon will then traverse Sulu Sea Wednesday morning...and pass along the northern tip of Palawan, very close to El Nido, Palawan by Wednesday evening.