More than 100,000 evacuated in the Philippines as Fung-wong intensifies into super typhoon | Philippines
More than 100,000 people were evacuated from the eastern and northern parts of the Philippines as Fung-wong, the latest storm to hit the country, intensified on Sunday and became a super typhoon ahead of its expected arrival later in the day.
Packing sustained winds of up to 185 km per hour and gusts of up to 230 km per hour, the super typhoon threatens to unleash torrential rain, destructive winds and storm surges.
Parts of Eastern Visayas are already experiencing power outages, while storm alert signals have been issued across much of the country. According to civil aviation regulations, more than 300 domestic and international flights were canceled.
Some footage shared by the Philippine coast guard in Camarines Sur showed evacuees carrying bags and personal belongings being transferred from long, narrow passenger boats to waiting trucks during pre-emptive evacuation operations.
In coastal Aurora state, where Fung-wong was expected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday morning, rescuers were going door-to-door encouraging residents to move to higher ground.
Typhoon Fung-wong is expected to dump about 200 mm or more of rain, which could cause widespread flooding, government meteorologist Benison Estareja told reporters on Saturday.
“It is also possible that our major river basins will overflow.”
Scientists warn that storms are becoming stronger due to the climate crisis. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen quickly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which means more precipitation.
Fung-wong is expected to hit the Philippines just days after typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed 204 people in the country and left a trail of destruction in its wake. The typhoon killed five more people and devastated coastal communities before hitting Vietnam.
Rescue official Myrra Daven told AFP on Saturday that the approaching storm had caused search and rescue operations to be suspended in the province, home to about 70% of Kalmaegi’s deaths.
“We were ordered to temporarily suspend search, rescue and recovery activities at 15:00 today,” he said.
“We cannot risk the safety of our rescuers. We do not want them to be the next casualties.”
The number of governments in the 57 hardest-hit casualty states will likely increase, Daven said.
“We expect that number to increase because there are still areas we cannot penetrate. Some access routes are still blocked by soil and other things,” he said.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
