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Super typhoon Fung-wong has blown through the Philippines, leaving at least two dead, 1.4 million people evacuated and widespread damage in its wake.
More than 1.4 million people were evacuated across the country as the storm triggered flash flooding, storm surges, landslides and gale-force winds, Philippine authorities said on Monday.
The biggest typhoon to threaten the Philippines in years, Fung-wong was forecast to cover two-thirds of the archipelago with its 1,800-kilometre (1,118-mile) -wide rain and wind band.
In Pandan, Catanduanes, one of the worst-affected areas, footage and photos from disaster response authorities showed flood waters rising to the rooftops and houses being washed away. At least one person was killed in flash flooding as civil defence workers rescued more than a dozen others.
“Our personnel rescued 14 people who were trapped on the roof of a house engulfed in flood in a low-lying neighbourhood,” Roberto Monterola, a disaster-mitigation officer for Catanduanes, told the Associated Press. “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.”
At least two people have been confirmed dead as of Monday morning, authorities said: one drowned in the Catanduanes, and another killed when her house collapsed on her in eastern Samar.
The super typhoon was downgraded to a typhoon in the early hours of Monday morning, as it crossed the Philippines’ largest island, where the capital city is located. The storm’s sustained wind speed had dropped from 185kmh to 165, but gusts were still reaching more than 275km/h, according to state weather service PAGASA. The storm system is expected to continue weakening as it moves north toward Taiwan.
The national disaster response service (NDRRMC) said it was still working to assess damage to infrastructure and homes. About 6,000 evacuation centres have been opened to temporarily house 92,000 families.
Fung-wong battered the country just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed at least 224 people and left another 135 missing, before moving on to Vietnam, where it killed five. Searches for those still missing had to be suspended on Sunday due to safety concerns for rescue workers.
The climate crisis is making tropical storms and typhoons more intense and frequent. Fung-wong is the 21st typhoon to hit the Philippines in 2025. The rate of super-typhoons hitting the Philippines has increased by more than 100% over the last two decades, scientists have found. The World Bank estimates that the intense storms cause an average of US$3.5m (£2.7m) in damage to the country every year.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected damage from Fung-wong.
