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Typhoon Fung-wong blew out of the northwestern Philippines on Monday after setting off floods and landslides, knocking out power to entire provinces, killing at least four people and displacing more than 1.4 million others.
It was forecast to head northwest toward Taiwan.
Fung-wong lashed the northern Philippines while the country was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central provinces on Tuesday before pummelling Vietnam, where at least five were killed.
Fung-wong slammed ashore in northeastern Aurora province on Sunday night as a super typhoon with sustained winds of up to 185 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 230 kilometres per hour.
The 1,800-kilometre-wide storm weakened as it raked through mountainous northern provinces and agricultural plains overnight before blowing away from the province of La Union into the South China Sea, according to state forecasters.
One person drowned in flash floods in the eastern province of Catanduanes, and another died in Catbalogan city in eastern Samar province when her house collapsed on her, officials said.
In the northern mountain province of Nueva Vizcaya, a landslide buried a hillside hut in Kayapa town before dawn on Monday, killing two children and injuring their parents and a sibling, town police chief Maj. Len Gomultim said.
More than 1.4 million people moved into emergency shelters or the homes of relatives before the typhoon made landfall, and about 318,000 remained in evacuation centres on Monday.
Fierce wind and rain flooded at least 132 northern villages, including one where some residents were trapped on their roofs as floodwaters rapidly rose. About 1,000 houses were damaged, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV of the Office of Civil Defence and other officials said, adding that roads blocked by landslides would be cleared as the weather improved on Monday.
“While the typhoon has passed, its rains still pose a danger in certain areas” in northern Luzon, including in metropolitan Manila,” Alejandro said. “We’ll undertake today rescue, relief and disaster-response operations.”
Widespread damage
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency on Thurday due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected damage from Fung-wong, which was also called Uwan in the Philippines.
Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185 kilometres or higher are categorized in the Philippines as a super typhoon to underscore the urgency tied to more extreme weather disturbances.
Super Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall in the Philippines, bringing fierce rain and winds of up to 200 km/h less than a week after Typhoon Kalmaegi devastated parts of the country.
The Philippines has not called for international help following the devastation caused by Kalmaegi, but Teodoro said the United States, the country’s longtime treaty ally, and Japan were ready to provide assistance.
Authorities announced that schools and most government offices would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. More than 325 domestic and 61 international flights were cancelled over the weekend and into Monday, and more than 6,600 commuters and cargo workers were stranded in ports after the coast guard prohibited ships from venturing into rough seas.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.
