More than a million evacuated as typhoon passes Philippines

A weakened Typhoon Fung-wong is currently passing over the South China Sea and is expected to head towards Taiwan after leaving two people dead in the Philippines.

About 1.4 million people in the Philippines had been evacuated as a preventative measure before Fung-wong made landfall as a super typhoon on Sunday, carrying winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) and winds of 230 km/h (143 mph).

It hit Aurora province on Luzon, the country’s most populous island, at 21:10 local time (13:10 GMT) and weakened into a typhoon hours later.

Fung-wong arrived just days after the earlier Kalmaegi storm killed nearly 200 people. Philippine officials report damage is less severe than expected; However, some communities are still cut off from transportation due to flooding.

By daybreak, the winds of Typhoon Fung-wong, which had been howling all night, had died down, and people came out to see the damage.

There was extensive damage to buildings, but good preparation appears to have prevented a repeat of the losses seen after Kalmaegi hit the central Philippines last week.

The country’s meteorological service had previously warned of destructive winds and “high risk of life-threatening” storm surge from the “very intense” typhoon.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled, buildings were secured and residents living below sea level and in coastal areas were urged to move to higher ground.

To a shelter in central Aurora, parents brought their young children, too young to remember Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people when it struck the Philippines in 2013.

“We were very worried because of the strength of the typhoon and we have young children to think about,” Jessa Zurbano previously told the BBC.

Another evacuee, Patry Azul, said: “Our house is made of wood and flimsy materials. We live near the sea, so we don’t feel safe.”

The winds brought by Fung-wong were not as strong as those of some previous storms, and its destructive power quickly weakened after landfall.

According to the civil defense office, two deaths were reported: one person drowned in Catbalogan City, and another woman was found dead under debris. Two other people were also injured.

Still, many neighborhoods were flooded and some were isolated from the rest of the country after roads and bridges were cut off by high water levels.

Aurora officials told local media Monday that four towns were blocked.

There is a power outage across most of Luzon’s main island.

The Philippine government had declared a nationwide state of disaster in preparation for Typhoon Fung-wong and following Kalmaegi.

This gives government agencies greater power to access emergency funds and ensure rapid delivery of essential goods and services.

Kalmaegi, one of the strongest typhoons of this year, caused the death of at least 204 people in the Philippines and left more than 100 missing.

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

Located close to the region where tropical weather systems form in the Pacific Ocean, the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to hurricanes.

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.