Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines after more than 1 million people evacuated

Super Typhoon Fung-wong slammed ashore Sunday on the northeastern coast of the Philippines, where the massive storm had already left at least two people dead and forced more than a million people to evacuate from flood- and landslide-prone areas, officials said.

The typhoon blew into Dinalungan town in Aurora province on Sunday night after setting off fierce rain and wind in northeastern Philippine provinces all day from offshore, with sustained winds of up to 185 km/h and gusts of up to 230 km/h.

The storm is the biggest to threaten the Philippines this year, covering as much as two-thirds of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,600-kilometre-wide rain and wind band.

Fung-wong approached from the Pacific earlier Sunday while the Philippines was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central island provinces on Tuesday before pummelling Vietnam, where at least five people were killed.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of emergency due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected calamity from Fung-wong, which is called Uwan in the Philippines.

Fung-wong was spotted by government forecasters before noon on Sunday over coastal waters near the town of Pandan in eastern Catanduanes province, where torrential rains and fog have obscured visibility.

Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185 km/h or higher are categorized in the Philippines as a super typhoon, a designation adopted years ago to underscore the urgency tied to more extreme weather disturbances.

More than 916,860 people were evacuated from high-risk villages in northeastern provinces, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who oversees the country's disaster response agencies and the military, warned about the potentially catastrophic impact of Fung-wong in televised remarks Saturday.

He said the storm could affect a vast expanse of the country, including Cebu, the central province hit hardest by Typhoon Kalmaegi, and metropolitan Manila, the densely populated capital region which is the seat of power and the country's financial centre.

More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defence said.

Teodoro asked people to follow orders by officials to immediately move away from villages and towns prone to flash floods, landslides and coastal tidal surges. "We need to do this because when it's already raining or the typhoon has hit and flooding has started, it's hard to rescue people," he said.

The Philippines has not called for international help following the devastation caused by Kalmaegi, but Teodoro said the United States, the country's longtime treaty ally, and Japan were ready to provide assistance.

Local Red Cross chapters have set up more than 500 evacuation centres, sheltering nearly 21,000 families, said Richard Gordon, the chair of Red Cross Philippines.