MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Philippine authorities say they are evacuating thousands of people before a "super-typhoon" hits northern Luzon Monday morning.
Packing 160 mph gusts, Typhoon Megi is expected to make landfall in Cagayan province by 8 a.m. and pass over Ilocos Norte in the afternoon, authorities told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The storm is the first Signal No. 4 typhoon -- the highest warning signal used by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration -– to threaten the country in four years.
At 10 p.m. Sunday, the storm's center was located 180 miles northeast of Tuguegarao, Cagayan.
PAGASA official Graciano Yumul Jr. said Metro Manila and other parts of southern Luzon will get rain and are under a Signal No. 1 warning. A Signal No. 1 tropical storm last year flooded 80 percent of the city.
Signal No. 1 warnings also were issued for Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Polillio Island, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Rizal and northern Quezon.
The super-typhoon is likely to uproot trees, blow away houses made of light material, damage power lines and communications, trigger landslides and cause storm surges, officials said.
Megi is the 10th and strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year.
