Nearly a million people have evacuated their homes in the Philippines as the country braced for another powerful storm, days after a typhoon killed at least 224 people.
The storm, named Fung-wong, started battering northeastern Philippines on Sunday before its expected landfall, knocking down power and prompting warnings from the weather bureau of a “high risk of life-threatening conditions” in parts of the country.
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The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Fung-wong, locally known as Uwan, is forecast to make landfall in Aurora province as early as Sunday night with maximum sustained winds of up to 185 kilometres per hour (115 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 230km/h (143mph).
It raised the highest alert level, Signal No 5, for southeastern and central areas, including Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, and Aurora province, while Metro Manila and nearby provinces were under Signal No 3.
Fung-wong, which could cover two-thirds of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,600km (994-mile-) wide rain and wind band, was approaching 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 island provinces on Tuesday before pummeling Vietnam, where at least five 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.
Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph) or higher are categorised 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.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr, who oversees the country’s disaster response agencies and the military, warned about the potentially catastrophic effect of Fung-wong in televised remarks on Saturday.
“We ask that people preemptively evacuate so that we don’t end up having to conduct rescues at the last minute, which could put the lives of police, soldiers, firefighters and coastguard personnel at risk,” he said in a public address.
“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 added.
Teodoro 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 Defense said.
In Isabela in northern Luzon, dozens of families were sheltering in a basketball court repurposed as an evacuation centre.
“We heard on the news that the typhoon is very strong, so we evacuated early,” said Christopher Sanchez, 50, who fled with his family.
“We left our things on the roofs of our house since every time there’s a storm, we come here because we live right next to the river,” he told the Reuters news agency. “In previous storms, the floodwaters rose above human height.
“We’re scared,” he said. “We’re here with our grandchildren and our kids. The whole family is in the evacuation area.”
Authorities in northern provinces to be hit or sideswiped by Fung-wong have meanwhile preemptively declared the shutdown of schools and most government offices on Monday and Tuesday. 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 coastguard prohibited ships from venturing into rough seas.
Authorities warned of a “high risk of life-threatening and damaging storm surge” of more than 3 metres (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.
