Preparations are now in high gear in the Philippines, amid the expected arrival of Super Typhoon Mangkhut. Officials are confident they have the experience to face the typhoon, as the region was hit by a massive storm two years ago. Barnaby Lo files this report from the Philippines.

BARNABY LO TUGUEGARAO CITY "Super typhoon Mangkhut is fast approaching the Philippines. It is the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year; it is the strongest storm on earth this year. Now it will hit the northern region of the Philippines. Two years ago, there was a super typhoon that hit here, and so the national government and the local governments in this region, they say that they have experience, they are ready for this typhoon."

MANUEL MAMBA CAGAYAN GOVERNOR "We have preemptive evacuations in a lot of areas. We're able to monitor and at the same time, got the locations of our assets as far as relief operations, food and non-food items, including heavy equipment, and the deployment of people. As you see, we have uniformed personnel all over too."

BARNABY LO TUGUEGARAO CITY "Now the people here, the local residents of Tuguegarao City, in Cagayan, which will take a direct hit from the typhoon, they're also getting ready on their own. They've boarded up this gas station, for example. This gas station has a huge roof over us, and two years ago, when there was a super typhoon here, they say that that huge roof got blown off by the typhoon, so they don't want that happening again. This typhoon is bringing with it some very strong winds and a lot of rain. So it could blow off houses made of light materials, it could blow off that roof. Now, as you can see there are people lining up. They're buying kerosene because this typhoon could knock out power and communications and they're going to need kerosene for light and for cooking, so they're doing what they can also to prepare for this typhoon. It's raining now, the typhoon is definitely coming. Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Tuguegarao City, the Philippines."