- The 21st storm of 2025 to hit the Philippines makes landfall.
- Two die drowning and in the rubble of heavy rain and wind.
- Pope Leo offers prayers for the predominantly Catholic nation.
ISABELA: Super Typhoon Fung-Wong made landfall in the Philippines on Sunday, reporting two deaths and one million people evacuated ahead of one of the country’s most powerful storms this year.
The storm crossed the north of the archipelago’s most populous island, Luzon, weather office PAGASA said, bringing torrential rain, sustained winds of 185 kph (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph (140 mph).
It was the 21st storm this year to hit a nation barely 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 at a basketball court in Luzon’s Isabela province.
Given previous flooding, the family moved their belongings to the roof before leaving. “We are afraid. We are here with our grandchildren and our children,” he said in the sports stadium filled with tents, elderly people in plastic chairs and children wandering around.
Deaths
Luzon and another island, Eastern Visayas, were hardest hit by the storm’s initial onslaught, with one person drowned and another trapped under debris, officials said.
The storm was expected to weaken as it moved inland.
Pope Leo offered prayers 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 Aurora province on the island of Luzon, where the storm hit, the 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 when it reaches western Taiwan on Thursday.
