Nearly 1 million people fled their homes in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Fung-Wong on Sunday brought severe winds and torrential rain, almost a week after another powerful typhoon left more than 200 people dead.
The national disaster agency said over 900,000 people have evacuated in eastern, central and northern provinces in the typhoon’s path.
Power has been cut in parts of the eastern provinces ahead of Fung-Wong’s expected landfall on Sunday evening.
“We again call on the public to prepare, follow warnings and implement pre-emptive measures as the typhoon nears,” said Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator of the national civil defence office.
“We are asking everyone to cooperate, but remain calm. We have protocols to follow and this is for our safety.”
The weather bureau said Fung-Wong was passing very close to the eastern province of Catanduanes on Sunday morning, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour (km/h) and gusts of up to230 km/h.
The storm was moving west-northwest at 25 km/h and is expected to make landfall over the northern province of Aurora late Sunday ore arly Monday, the bureau added.
A total of 8.4 million people could potentially be affected by Fung-Wong, including 5.7 million who are living in coastal communities, according to government data.
The Philippines is hit by an average of about 20 tropical cyclones per year.
One of the strongest storms to ever hit the country was Super Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which killed more than 6,300 people.
