- The 21st storm in 2025 to hit the Philippines makes landfall.
- Two die from drowning and debris in heavy rain and wind.
- Pope Leo prays for predominantly Catholic nations.
ISABELA: Super typhoon Fung-Wong made landfall in the Philippines on Sunday with two deaths reported and a million people evacuated ahead of one of the country’s strongest storms this year.
The storm crossed the northern part of the archipelago’s most populous island, Luzon, weather agency PAGASA said, bringing heavy rain, sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 km/h (140 mph).
It was the 21st storm this year to hit a nation only just recovering from Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left 224 dead in the Philippines and five in Vietnam.
“We heard on the news that the typhoon is very strong, so we evacuated early,” said Christopher Sanchez, 50, who camped with his family on a basketball court in Luzon’s Isabela province.
Due to previous flooding, the family moved their belongings to their roof before leaving. “We are scared. We are here with our grandchildren and our children,” he said in the sports arena dotted with tents, elderly people on plastic chairs and children roaming around.
Death
Luzon and another island, Eastern Visayas, bore the brunt of the storm’s early onslaught, with one person drowned and another trapped under debris, authorities said.
The storm was expected to weaken as it moved inland.
Pope Leo prayed for the predominantly Catholic nation. “I am close to the people of the Philippines affected by a violent typhoon. I pray for the deceased and their families, for the injured and the displaced,” he said on Sunday.
In Luzon island’s Aurora province, where the storm arrived, lights went out but phone lines were still working, civil defense official Cheng Quizon told DZBB radio.
Several airports, including Sangley near the capital Manila and Bicol to the south, closed.
Fung-Wong is expected to head north of the Philippines and reach coastal waters on Monday morning while remaining a typhoon, PAGASA said, before heading out to sea and weakening as it reaches western Taiwan on Thursday.
