As Super Typhoon Fung-wong nears, Philippines on edge

Super Typhoon Fung-wong, the astir almighty tempest to endanger the Philippines this year, has begun battering its northeastern coast, sidesplitting astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic truthful far, disrupting powerfulness and forcing astir 1 cardinal radical to evacuate arsenic authorities urgently telephone for residents successful high-risk areas to question contiguous shelter.

With an tremendous 1,600km (994-mile) rainfall and upwind set susceptible of affecting two-thirds of the archipelago, Fung-wong is striking arsenic the state inactive is struggling to retrieve from Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed astatine slightest 224 radical successful cardinal provinces connected Tuesday earlier moving connected to Vietnam, wherever it killed 5 much people.

Fung-wong could marque landfall connected the main land of Luzon arsenic aboriginal arsenic Sunday night. More than 916,860 residents person fled susceptible areas successful northeastern provinces, including the Bicol region, which faces dual threats from cyclones and imaginable mudflows from the Mayon volcano.

During a televised code connected Saturday, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, who coordinates catastrophe response, warned of Fung-wong’s perchance catastrophic impact. The tempest threatens immense regions, including the already devastated Cebu state and metropolitan Manila, the nation’s superior and fiscal hub.

The storm, the 21st to deed the Philippines this year, has sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph) and gusts arsenic precocious arsenic 230km/h (140mph).

According to the Office of Civil Defence, much than 30 cardinal radical could beryllium exposed to Fung-wong’s hazards. While the Philippines hasn’t requested planetary assistance aft Kalmaegi, Teodoro indicated that the United States and Japan whitethorn supply assistance.

As Fung-wong approached, respective eastbound communities experienced powerfulness outages, reported Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, lawman head of the Office of Civil Defence.

Northern provinces successful the storm’s projected way person closed schools and astir authorities offices for Monday and Tuesday. Transportation disruptions included 325 cancelled home flights, 61 planetary formation cancellations and much than 6,600 radical stranded astatine 109 seaports wherever maritime question has been suspended.