MANILA, Philippines — Super Typhoon Fung-wong battered the Philippines’ northeastern coast ahead of landfall on Sunday, leaving at least two people dead and forcing more than a million people to evacuate from areas at risk of flash floods, landslide and tidal surges, officials said.
The typhoon could cover two-thirds of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,118-mile-wide rain and wind band, forecasters said. It approached from the Pacific while the Philippines was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central provinces on Tuesday before pummeling Vietnam, where at least five were killed.
A villager drowned in flash floods in the eastern province of Catanduanes and another died in Catbalogan city in eastern Samar province when she was pinned by debris, officials said.
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.
The typhoon packed maximum winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph). It was located before noon Sunday over coastal waters near the town of Pandan in eastern Catanduanes province, where torrential rains and fog have obscured visibility. It’s expected to track northwestward and make landfall on the coast of Aurora or Isabela provinces later Sunday or early Monday, state forecasters said.
Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 115 mph 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.
"The rain and wind were so strong there was nearly zero visibility," Roberto Monterola, a disaster-mitigation officer for Catanduanes, said by telephone, adding there have been no reports of casualties so far in the island province of more than 200,000 people.
But despite calls for residents to evacuate from disaster-prone areas Saturday, some still stayed on.
"Our personnel rescued 14 people who were trapped on the roof of a house engulfed in flood in a low-lying neighborhood," Monterola said. "A father also called in panic, saying the roof of his house was about to be ripped off by the wind. We saved him and four relatives."
Over a million 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.
Defense 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. 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 center.
More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defense 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,” Teodoro 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.
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 Defense said.
Authorities in northern provinces to be hit or sideswiped by Fung-wong preemptively declared the shutdown of schools and most government offices on Monday and Tuesday. At least 325 domestic and 61 international flights have been canceled 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 nearly 10 feet 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.