A weakening Typhoon Fung-wong has departed the Philippines after killing at least two people, displacing 1.4 million, and destroying homes and roads across the country’s most populous island.
Rescue workers kicked off recovery efforts on Monday morning across the island of Luzon, home to some 64 million people, as the government lifted all travel restrictions.
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Crews wielding power tools, saws and heavy machinery began tackling wreckage, while thousands of Philippine Coast Guard, police and military personnel assumed posts to aid evacuees and assist in rescue operations.
In the eastern coastal town of Dipaculao, where power was still out, footage shared by the local fire agency showed crews using axes to hack through enormous piles of debris – including felled trees and entire metal roofs – as they cleared a roadway.
“We’re seeing many damaged houses and some of our main roads were not passable due to landslides,” rescue worker Geofry Parrocha told the AFP news agency from Dipaculao.
“We couldn’t mobilise last night because the rain was heavy and the volume of water was high,” he said.
The typhoon – which packed winds of 185 kilometres per hour (115 miles per hour) and gusts up to 230km/h (143mph) – made landfall on Aurora province on Sunday evening, unleashing heavy rains and knocking out power to thousands of people.
Even as the storm weakened while moving northwest over the South China Sea, a deluge of up to 200mm (8in) of rain was slated to lash the provinces of La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet and Zambales through Monday, weather bureau PAGASA said.
The bureau also warned of gale-force winds in coastal and upland areas.
The Taipei Times reported that Taiwan’s weather administration planned to issue warnings to residents on Monday and Tuesday, with the storm’s centre projected to strike the island by Thursday morning.
Fung-wong arrived mere days after Typhoon Kalmaegi tore through the Philippines’ central provinces and killed at least 224 people. Kalmaegi then struck Vietnam’s central and highland regions, leading to the deaths of at least five people.
‘Still pose a danger’
In northern Luzon, high waters tore through at least 132 villages, including one where some residents were trapped on their roofs as floodwaters quickly rose. At least 1,000 houses were damaged, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV of the Office of Civil Defense said.
Alejandro warned that the typhoon’s ongoing rains still posed danger to the island’s northern residents, including in metropolitan Manila.
“While the typhoon has passed, its rains still pose a danger in certain areas” in northern Luzon, including in metropolitan Manila,” Alejandro said. “We’ll undertake today rescue, relief and disaster-response operations.”
Nearly 320,000 people remain in evacuation shelters.
Flash flooding in the eastern province of Catanduanes killed at least one person, while another died in eastern Samar province when her house collapsed, officials said.
In Samar province’s Catbalogan City, rescuer Juniel Tagarino told AFP the body of a 64-year-old woman – who was thought to be in the midst of evacuating – had been pulled out from under debris and trees.
“The wind was so strong and the rain was heavy,” Tagarino said. “According to her family members, she might have forgotten something and went back inside her house.”
At least two more people were reported injured.
Major flooding was also reported in southern Luzon’s Bicol region. In Guinobatan, a town of about 80,000 in Bicol’s Albay province, videos showed streets transformed into raging torrents of water.
Authorities announced that schools and most government offices would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. More than 325 domestic and 61 international flights were cancelled over the weekend and into Monday, and more than 6,600 commuters and cargo workers were stranded in ports after the coastguard prohibited ships from venturing into rough seas.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected damage from Fung-wong, which was also called Uwan in the Philippines.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning heavier rainfall.
