Storm declared ‘super typhoon’ as it hits Philippines

A storm bearing down on the Philippines’s largest island has been upgraded to super typhoon status, with one region already experiencing “life-threatening conditions”.

Typhoon Fung Wong will bring sustained winds of 185 km/h (155mph) and torrential rain to several areas on Sunday, according to the country’s meteorological service, Pagasa.

The eastern Bicol region was the first part of the Philippines to be directly hit by the storm on Sunday morning, with Luzon – the country’s main population centre – expected to be impacted by Sunday night.

Typhoon Fung Wong – known locally as Uwan – comes days after an earlier storm, Kalmaegi, left a trail of destruction and nearly 200 people dead.

Several schools have either cancelled classes on Monday or moved them online, while Philippine Airlines has cancelled a number of local flights ahead of its arrival.

Fung Wong is expected to weaken rapidly once it makes landfall but will likely remain a typhoon as it travels over Luzon.

Eastern parts of the Philippines have already begun experiencing heavy rains and winds, a Pagasa official said in a briefing on Saturday evening.

While much of the country is expected to be impacted, there are particular concerns about those areas that could take a direct hit, including Catanduanes, an island in the east of the Bicol region, where extreme condition were reported on Sunday morning.

Residents there, as well as in other low-lying and coastal areas, had been urged to move to higher ground by Sunday morning.

In the Aurora region, in the east of Luzon, BBC News spoke to Hagunoy, 21, who works at one of the dozen hotels which line the coast in Sabang.

He said local police had repeatedly visited in recent days to ensure all guests were evacuated ahead of the storm.

The hotels were all deserted on Sunday morning as residents braced for the typhoon to arrive, which was expected at around midnight.

While the tide had risen sharply, Hagunoy said we would stay as long as he can to guard the property, before riding his motorbike home to safety.

Staff had secured the gates and tied windows shut with rope to try to stop the glass from shattering in the wind.

Fung Wong has also forced the suspension of rescue operations following the passage of Kalmaegi, one of the strongest typhoons this year.

Heavy rainfall sent torrents of mud down hillsides and into residential areas. Some poorer neighbourhoods were obliterated by the fast-moving flash floods.

At least 204 people are now known to have died in the Philippines as a result of the earlier storm, while more than 100 are still missing.

Five people also died in Vietnam, where strong winds uprooted trees, tore off roofs, and smashed large windows.

The Philippines government declared a state of calamity across the country after Typhoon Kalmaegi and in preparation for the coming storm.

It has given government agencies more power to access emergency funds and fast-track the procurement and delivery of essential goods and services to those in need.

For some Filipinos, the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi earlier this week has left them even more anxious about the storm to come.

“We decided to evacuate because the recent typhoon brought floods in our area, and now I just want to keep my family safe,” Norlito Dugan told the AFP news agency.

He is among those who have taken shelter in a church in the city of Sorsogon in Luzon.

Another resident, Maxine Dugan said: “I’m here because the waves near my house are now huge, I live near the shore. The winds there are now very strong, and the waves are huge.”

The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to tropical cyclones due to its location on the Pacific Ocean where such weather systems form.

About 20 tropical cyclones form in that region every year, half of which impact the country directly.

Climate change is not thought to increase the number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones worldwide.

However, warmer oceans coupled with a warmer atmosphere – fuelled by climate change – have the potential to make those that do form even more intense. That can potentially lead to higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall, and a greater risk of coastal flooding.