Thousands of people have been evacuated from their villages, schools and offices have been closed as Typhoon Mawar approaches the Philippines' northern provinces, a week after hitting U.S. territory on Guam. Officials imposed a navigation ban as a precaution.

The impact of the storm on the country should actually be "better" than feared. Current projections show that the typhoon is veering northeast towards Taiwan or southern Japan, but Philippine authorities have warned that dangerous tidal waves, torrential rains, flash floods and landslides could occur as it passes through the northernmost province of Batanes with winds that could exceed 150km/h.

Mawar is the most powerful storm of 2023 so far and after reaching category 5 it has slightly downgraded to category 3.

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Preparations for the arrival of Typhoon Mawar in the Philippines

"These typhoons, earthquakes and natural disasters are part of our lives," Batanes Vice Governor Ignacio Villa told The Associated Press. "The trajectory could change even worse. We cannot afford not to prepare because that would potentially mean loss of life and serious damage."

Army soldiers, police, firefighters and volunteer groups are ready for possible search and relief efforts in the northern provinces and more than a million food parcels have been prepared for displaced villagers.

More than 4,800 people have already been moved to emergency shelters in Cagayan, Batanes and other provinces, Alejandro said, and the number is expected to rise given precautionary evacuations underway Monday in regions prone to flooding and landslides.

Flights to and from the affected provinces have been cancelled and fishing and passenger vessels have been banned from sailing.

Mawar is also the first typhoon of the year to reach the Philippines, considered the country most exposed to tropical storms in the world. The archipelago is also located on seismic faults where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the most disaster-prone in the world.

In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 7,300 people, razed entire villages, wiped out inland ships, demolished about one million shacks and homes, and displaced more than 5 million people in one of the country's poorest regions in the central Philippines.

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Typhoon Mawar in the Philippines: food parcels to be distributed to displaced people