Super Typhoon Fung-wong slammed ashore Sunday on the northeastern coast of the Philippines, where the massive storm had already left at least two people dead and forced more than a million people to evacuate from flood- and landslide-prone areas, officials said.
The typhoon blew into Dinalungan town in Aurora province on Sunday night after setting off fierce rain and wind in northeastern Philippine provinces all day from offshore, with sustained winds of up to 185 km/h and gusts of up to 230 km/h.
The storm is the biggest to threaten the Philippines this year, covering as much as two-thirds of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,600-kilometre-wide rain and wind band.
Fung-wong approached from the Pacific earlier Sunday while the Philippines was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central island provinces on Tuesday before pummelling Vietnam, where at least five people were killed.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of emergency due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected calamity from Fung-wong, which is called Uwan in the Philippines.
Fung-wong was spotted by government forecasters before noon on Sunday over coastal waters near the town of Pandan in eastern Catanduanes province, where torrential rains and fog have obscured visibility.
Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185 km/h or higher are categorized in the Philippines as a super typhoon, a designation adopted years ago to underscore the urgency tied to more extreme weather disturbances.
More than 916,860 people were evacuated from high-risk villages in northeastern provinces, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes.
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who oversees the country’s disaster response agencies and the military, warned about the potentially catastrophic impact of Fung-wong in televised remarks Saturday.
Eyewitness video from the Philippines shows vehicles being swept away by floodwaters unleashed by Typhoon Kalmaegi. The powerful storm unleashed heavy rains and floods across the central Philippines, submerging homes and leaving at least four people dead.
He said the storm could affect a vast expanse of the country, including Cebu, the central province hit hardest by Typhoon Kalmaegi, and metropolitan Manila, the densely populated capital region which is the seat of power and the country’s financial centre.
More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defence said.
Teodoro asked people to follow orders by officials to immediately move away from villages and towns prone to flash floods, landslides and coastal tidal surges. “We need to do this because when it’s already raining or the typhoon has hit and flooding has started, it’s hard to rescue people,” he said.
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.
More than a million people have been forced to evacuate at-risk regions in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Fung-Wong batters the country’s northeastern coast ahead of landfall. Reiza Dejito, the country director for CARE Philippines, says the situation is dire and many of the same municipalities impacted this year were devastated by a super typhoon in 2024.
Local Red Cross chapters have set up more than 500 evacuation centres, sheltering nearly 21,000 families, said Richard Gordon, the chair of Red Cross Philippines.
“We’ve been very busy and we’ve been coping,” Gordon told CBC News Network on Sunday, shortly before Fung-wong made landfall. He said Red Cross Philippines has already dealt with eight or nine disasters this year, including Kalmaegi and the earthquake that struck Cebu in late September.
The organization has equipment and trucks that can clear debris and help rescue people in collapsed homes. It has also set up food trucks to distribute hot meals in at-risk mountainous areas, he said.
Gordon said two people had so far died as the storm approached — one of them in a landslide — and that he expected the number of casualties to rise as its full force reached the country.
“We have until Tuesday until the typhoon dissipates, but the challenges are making sure that we are able to take care of people in the evacuation centres and being able to rescue people if their houses collapse,” he said.
As Fung-wong approached with its wide band of fierce wind and rain, several eastern towns and villages lost power, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defence, said.
Residents of Talisay in the Cebu province of the Philippines are taking stock of their destroyed homes after Typhoon Kalmaegi barrelled into the country, setting off flash floods and killing over 100 people. ‘We were not able to save anything. The flood took even our rice. Everything,’ one resident said.
Authorities in northern provinces to be hit or sideswiped by Fung-wong pre-emptively declared the shutdown of schools and most government offices on Monday and Tuesday.
Reiza Dejito, the country director for CARE Philippines, an organization providing emergency relief, said some areas were experiencing flash floods earlier in the day on Sunday and that entire towns had been cut off from electricity and mobile signals, and roads were blocked by debris.
“The situation is really dire,” Dejito said, also speaking on CBC News Network. She said many of the same communities were already hit by typhoons last year. “For these families, it feels like the recovery never really began.”
At least 325 domestic and 61 international flights have been cancelled over the weekend and into Monday, and more than 6,600 commuters and cargo workers were stranded in at least 109 seaports, where the coast guard prohibited ships from venturing into rough seas.
Authorities warned of a “high risk of life-threatening and damaging storm surge” of more than three metres along the coasts of more than 20 provinces and regions, including metropolitan Manila.
The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country is also often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
