Super Typhoon Fung-wong live updates: Two dead and 1.4 million evacuated as ‘intense’ storm slams into Philippines

The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.

The country is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes.

The storm has covered large areas of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,600km-wide rain and wind band.

Before the Typhoon made landfall, defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr warned about the potentially catastrophic impact of Fung-wong in televised remarks.

He said the storm could affect a vast expanse of the country, including Cebu, the central province hit hardest by the previous typhoon, and metropolitan Manila, the densely populated capital region.

More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defense has said.

Mr Teodoro asked people to follow government orders and seek shelter away from villages and towns prone to flash floods, landslides and coastal tidal surges. “We need to do this because when it’s already raining or the typhoon has hit and flooding has started, it’s hard to rescue people,” he said.

Super Typhoon Fung-wong, the biggest storm to threaten the Philippines this year, struck while the archipelago was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central island provinces on Tuesday before pummeling Vietnam, where at least five were killed.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

In Isabela in northern Luzon, dozens of families were sheltering in a basketball court repurposed as an evacuation centre.

The region has now been struck by the Typhoon, which is set to have devastating impacts.

“We heard on the news that the typhoon is very strong, so we evacuated early,” said Christopher Sanchez, 50, who fled with his family.

“We left our things on the roofs of our house since every time there’s a storm, we come here because we live right next to the river,” he told Reuters. “In previous storms, the floodwaters rose above human height.”

“We’re scared,” he said. “We’re here with our grandchildren and our kids. The whole family is in the evacuation area.”

Before the Super Typhoon made landfall in the Phillipines, the massive storm had already caused severe damage.

This included the death of two people in the eastern provinces of the country.

One was a villager, who died drowned in flash floods in the eastern province of Catanduanes.

Another person died in Catbalogan city in eastern Samar province when she was hit by debris, officials said.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of emergency due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected calamity from Fung-wong.

The bands of Super Typhoon Fung-wong are already lashing the Philippines with heavy rain and wind gusts.

But with its 994-mile wide rain and wind band the storm could cover two-third of the archipelago.