Typhoon Bopha Batters the Philippines

Typhoon Bopha is very unusual. According to Jeff Masters' Weather Underground blog yesterday, she is:

The 2nd most southerly typhoon ever recorded in the Western Pacific. Bopha became a tropical depression unusually close to the Equator, at 3.6°N latitude. Tropical cyclones rarely form so close to the Equator, because they cannot leverage the Earth's rotation to get themselves spinning.

An unfortunate side effect of the southerly track of Bopha is that:

Bopha will make landfall on Mindanao in the early morning on Tuesday local time. Mindanao rarely gets hit by typhoons, since the island is too close to the Equator, and the infrastructure of Mindanao is not prepared to handle heavy typhoon rains as well as the more typhoon-prone northern islands. Bopha is likely to hit at Category 4 or 5 strength, making it the strongest typhoon ever recorded in Mindanao. Bopha is potentially a catastrophic storm for Mindanao.

According to the Republic of the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in this morning's bulletin on the effects of  Typhoon Bopha (known as "Pablo" in the Philippines) :

The landfall of Typhoon Pablo [took place] over Baganga, Davao Oriental this morning at 4:00 AM, 4 December 2012

According to the BBC:

More than 40,000 people have been moved into shelter as a powerful typhoon hits the southern Philippines. Typhoon Bopha made landfall on Mindanao early on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and wind gusts of 210 km/h (130mph). The storm has caused widespread power cuts, travel disruption and flooding in areas at risk of landslides. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The NDRRMC bulletin doesn't report any casualties as yet either, but goes into much more detail about the effects of the Typhoon on the population of the Philippines than the BBC. For example:

Location (at 10:00 AM) – 50 km east of Malaybalay, Bukidnon

Maximum sustained winds of 160 kph near the cente and gustiness of up to 195 kph

Forecast position Wednesday morning – 140 km Southwest of Iloilo City

Here's the United States Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center graphical prediction of what Bopha will do next:

The 5 day forecast for Typhoon Bopha/Pablo on Tuesday 4th December 2012

According to the NDRRMC once more:

As of 12:00 NN, 04 December 2012, a total of 11,871 families / 57,501 persons were affected in Regions VIII, X, XI, and CARAGA.

As of 04 December 2012, a total of 3,268 stranded passengers, 148 rolling cargoes, 93 vessels and 49 motor bancas were stranded in ports all over the Philippines.

As of 04 December 2012, a total of 65 flights were cancelled due to Typhoon Pablo.

As of 04 December 2012, power blackout is being experienced in Tandag, Bislig, Hinatuan, Tagbina, Barobo, Lianga, and Lingig in Surigao Del Sur; Carmen, Agusan Del Norte; and Pilar, Surigao Del Norte.

To date, erratic communication is being experienced in Pilar, Surigao Del Norte due to damaged cell sites.

As of 04 December 2012, National Road Junction Pulang Lupa-Sta Josefa Road in Brgy Sta Isabel, Sta Josefa, Agusan Del Sur is hardly passable due to damaged roads due to heavy rains.

Here's some raw video from Associated Press showing that sort of things that are happening in the Philippines at the moment: