Typhoon Fung Wong bears down on the Philippines after deadly Kalmaegi

The storm that hit the Philippines has been upgraded to super typhoon status and a remote island region is already experiencing “life-threatening conditions”.

According to the country’s meteorological service (Pagasa), Typhoon Fung Wong will bring sustained winds of 185 km/h (155mph) and heavy rain on Sunday.

Catanduanes, an island off the coast of Luzon, was the first area in the Philippines to be directly hit by the storm on Sunday morning.

Typhoon Fung Wong, known locally as Uwan, arrived just days after an earlier storm, Kalmaegi, left a trail of destruction and killed nearly 200 people.

Many schools either canceled classes or moved them online on Monday; Philippine Airlines, on the other hand, canceled a number of local flights ahead of its arrival.

Typhoon Fung Wong is expected to weaken rapidly once it makes landfall, but will likely remain a typhoon as it moves over Luzon.

Eastern parts of the Philippines have already started experiencing heavy rains and winds, a Pagasa official said in a briefing Saturday evening local time.

While most of the country is expected to be affected, there are particular concerns about areas that may be directly affected, including Catanduanes.

Residents there and other low-lying and coastal areas were urged to move to higher ground on Sunday morning.

BBC News spoke to Hagunoy, 21, who works at one of a dozen hotels off the coast of Sabang, in the Aurora district in the east of the country’s largest island.

He said local police had visited several times in recent days to ensure all guests were evacuated before the storm.

On Sunday morning, the hotels were all empty as residents prepared for the arrival of the typhoon, which was expected to arrive around midnight.

As the water rose rapidly, Hagunoy said we would stay as long as possible to protect the property before riding home safely on his motorcycle.

Staff secured doors and roped off windows to prevent glass from breaking in the wind.

Typhoon Fung Wong also forced the suspension of rescue operations following the passage of Kalmaegi, one of this year’s strongest typhoons.

Heavy rains sent floods of mud down hillsides and into residential areas. Some poor neighborhoods were destroyed by fast-moving floods.

It is known that at least 204 people died in the Philippines due to the previous storm, and more than 100 are still missing.

Five people also died in Vietnam, where high winds uprooted trees, blew off roofs and shattered large windows.

The Philippine government declared a state of disaster across the country following Typhoon Kalmaegi and in preparation for the approaching storm.

It gave government agencies greater power to access emergency funds and accelerate the supply and delivery of essential goods and services to those in need.

The devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi earlier this week has made some Filipinos even more anxious about the approaching storm.

“We decided to evacuate because the last typhoon caused flooding in our area and now I just want to keep my family safe,” Norlito Dugan told AFP news agency. he said.

He is among those who took refuge in the church in Sorsogon, Luzon.

Another resident, Maxine Dugan, said: “I’m here because the waves near my house are now so big, I live close to the shore. The winds there are now too strong and the waves are too big.”

The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to tropical cyclones due to its location in the Pacific Ocean, where such weather systems form.

Approximately 20 tropical cyclones form in this region every year, and half of them directly affect the country.

It is not thought that climate change will increase the number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones worldwide.

However, warmer oceans and a warmer atmosphere triggered by climate change have the potential to make the resulting oceans even denser. This could potentially lead to higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall and a greater risk of coastal flooding.