MANILA: A weakening Typhoon Fung-wong departed the Philippines over the South China Sea on Monday morning (Nov 10), after its driving winds and heavy rain killed at least two people and forced more than a million to evacuate.
Fung-wong, with a footprint that spanned nearly the entirety of the archipelago, slammed into the country’s eastern seaboard Sunday evening as a “super typhoon” after uprooting trees and swamping towns further south.
It landed just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the islands of the central Philippines, claiming at least 224 lives.
Schools and government offices across swathes of the main island Luzon, including Manila, were closed on Monday, though predicted heavy rains had yet to materialise.
In Aurora province, where Fung-wong made landfall the night before, rescue worker Geofry Parrocha said officials were only now able to assess the damage.
“We’re seeing many damaged houses and some of our main roads were not passable due to landslides,” he told AFP Monday morning from Dipaculao town, where power had yet to be restored.
“We couldn’t mobilise last night because the rain was heavy and the volume of water was high.”
Aurora Taay, mayor of the province’s Dingalan town, told a Facebook Live audience that numerous houses and boats along the shoreline had been smashed amid massive waves.
Source: CNA
