MANILA (AFP) – A super typhoon barrelled towards the Philippines yesterday and was on track to slam into the heavily-populated main island of Luzon, forcing the evacuations of coastal communities, authorities said.

Super Typhoon Noru was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 195 kilometres an hour after an unprecedented “explosive intensification”, the weather forecaster said.

The storm is expected to continue strengthening as it made landfall 80 kilometres northeast of the sprawling capital Manila in the afternoon or evening local time.

“We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary,” Philippine National Police Chief General Rodolfo Azurin said.

The Philippines is regularly ravaged by storms, with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

Weather forecaster Robb Gile said Noru’s rapid intensification as it neared land was “unprecedented”. The meteorology agency said its wind speeds had increased by 90 kilometres per hour in 24 hours.

“Typhoons are like engines – you need a fuel and an exhaust to function,” said Gile.

“In the case of Karding, it has a good fuel because it has plenty of warm waters along its track and then there is a good exhaust in the upper level of the atmosphere – so it’s a good recipe for explosive intensification,” he said, using the local name for the storm.

In Manila, emergency personnel braced for the possibility of strong winds and heavy rain battering the city of more than 13 million people.

Forced evacuations have started in some “high risk” areas of the capital, officials said.

“NCR is prepared. We are just waiting and hoping it will not hit us,” said regional director for the civil defence office Romulo Cabantac, referring to the National Capital Region.

Noru comes nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Residents in several municipalities in Quezon province, where this latest storm could make a direct hit, were being evacuated from their homes, said Mel Avenilla from the provincial disaster office.

In the neighbouring province of Aurora, residents of Dingalan municipality were being forced to seek shelter.

“People living near the coast have been told to evacuate. We live away from the coast so we’re staying put so far. We’re more worried about the water from the mountains,” said Rhea Tan, 54, a restaurant manager in Dingalan.

Tan said residents were securing the roofs of their houses and boats were being taken to higher ground while the weather was still calm.