Typhoon Mirinae on track to hit flooded Manila

Authorities closed schools, grounded ferries and army troops mobilized a battalion with rubber boats ready for rescue operations in the capital and more than 25 other provinces. Trucks with food and other relief goods were dispatched to northern provinces in the typhoon's path.

Mirinae — Korean for the Milky Way — is forecast to make landfall Friday evening in the eastern province of Quezon, sparing the country's rice bowl in the heart of the main Luzon Island before passing south of Manila.

"If the center does not pass directly over Manila, we will still surely feel it," said chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz.

The typhoon, packing winds of 93 miles (150 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 115 mph (185 kph), is expected to exit Luzon into the South China Sea later on Saturday.

The government's disaster agency told people to prepare 72-hour survival kits, including food items like rice plus a radio set, flashlights and batteries, clothing and first aid.