Powerful typhoon threatens millions near East Asia

Typhoon Utor, the third western Pacific typhoon of 2013, is barrelling into the northern Philippines with the potential for catastrophic damage.

Utor – also named Labuyo by the Philippine weather agency, which uses its own naming list – peaked as a Category 4 super typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale Sunday, with winds reaching 150 miles per hour as of 11 a.m. Eastern U.S. time (11 p.m. Philippines time).

The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said Utor made landfall just before 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, and winds decreased just slightly to a still-dangerous 140 miles per hour.

A "super typhoon" is declared when a tropical cyclone in the western North Pacific Ocean attains winds of at least 150 miles per hour.

Utor will take a west-northwesterly course across Luzon with potentially devastating winds, even as it weakens some over land. Heavy rain falling over the mountainous terrain on the island will make flooding and mudslides a significant threat.