Typhoon Fung-wong set to swing towards Taiwan after ripping through Philippines
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Around 1.4 million people in the Philippines have been pre-emptively evacuated due to Typhoon Fung-wong.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MANILA – Typhoon Fung-wong is forecast to swing towards Taiwan after the powerful storm struck the Philippines’ north-east
The cyclone – known locally as Uwan – has now moved over the West Philippine Sea and is packing maximum sustained winds of 150kmh, according to a notice from the local weather bureau.
The typhoon has claimed four lives, the authorities said on Nov 10, and is expected to make landfall in northern Taiwan later this week.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had ordered the suspension of government work in the capital region and nearby provinces on Nov 10, and classes at all levels until Nov 11. The typhoon had top sustained winds of 185kmh before it hit the Philippines, equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.
Fung-wong made landfall over Dinalungan, Aurora, on the main Luzon island, and Civil Defence Office deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro said on Nov 10 that around 1,000 houses were damaged, with 122 villages flooded.
Around 1.4 million people had been pre-emptively evacuated, he added.
Mr Alejandro said a person drowned in a flash flood in Viga town, Catanduanes province.
In Catbalogan city, Samar province, a 64-year-old woman fell from a makeshift wooden bridge and was swept away by strong waves, a city disaster official told DZBB radio station.
“We have landslides in some areas and there were roads damaged,” Vice-Governor Patrick Alexis Angara of Aurora province told DZMM radio station. “We experienced storm surges already before the typhoon made landfall.”
Fung-wong is the second deadly typhoon to hit the country in the past week, after Kalmaegi slammed into the central Philippines
The series of storms is putting a spotlight on a corruption scandal in the government’s billion-peso flood control projects, triggering public outrage.
More than 400 mostly domestic flights had been cancelled for Nov 9 to 12, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said on Nov 10. Fung-wong is the 21st cyclone to hit the Philippines in 2025, one more than the annual average in a nation that is among the world’s most prone to disasters.
The typhoon is forecast to strike Taiwan as a significantly weaker system later this week, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said. The storm is currently 135km north-west of Bacnotan, according to the Philippines’ weather bureau.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said all cities across the island must be prepared for Fung-wong, noting that its path is highly unusual, the Central News Agency reported.
He urged caution in Hualien county, where a red alert has been issued for the Mataian Creek barrier lake, saying all residents in evacuation zones must leave without delay. Super Typhoon Ragasa left at least 15 people dead in the area in September.
Taiwan Power Company, the island’s biggest power supplier, has mobilised 4,000 staff to strengthen grid maintenance and stand by for any repair needs. BLOOMBERG
