Super Typhoon Fung-wong Slams Into the Philippines: Two Dead, Over a Million Evacuated as Storm Tears Across Luzon
Super Typhoon Fung-wong slammed into the Philippines on Sunday night, killing at least two people and forcing more than a million people to leave their homes, as one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years tore across its most crowded island.
The storm, known locally as Uwan, made landfall in the town of Dinalungan in Aurora province at 9:10pm local time on Sunday, with sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 230 kilometres per hour. It then pushed west across Luzon, the Philippines’ largest and most populous island, bringing violent winds, torrential rain and dangerous storm surges.
By Monday morning, rescue teams were clearing blocked roads and reaching towns cut off by floods and landslides, while officials warned that the death toll could rise as damage reports came in from remote areas.
What happened when Fung-wong hit land
Fung-wong had been building in the Pacific for days before it reached the Philippines. By the time it arrived, forecasters said its band of rain and wind stretched about 1,800 kilometres wide — so large that it could cover two-thirds of the whole archipelago.
The storm first battered the eastern seaboard on Sunday. The Bicol region and the island province of Catanduanes felt the worst of the early winds and rain, and the storm passed the Polillo Islands in the afternoon before its eye came ashore in Aurora province in the evening.
“The rain and wind were so strong there was nearly zero visibility,” Roberto Monterola, a disaster-mitigation officer for Catanduanes, told the Associated Press by telephone.
Monterola said his teams rescued 14 people who were trapped on the roof of a house surrounded by floodwater in a low-lying neighbourhood. “A father also called in panic, saying the roof of his house was about to be ripped off by the wind. We saved him and four relatives,” he said.
In the Philippines, a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour or more is classed as a super typhoon. The category was created years ago to underline the danger of the strongest storms. Fung-wong met that mark exactly when it came ashore.
The human cost so far
At least two people were confirmed dead in the first hours after landfall, according to the country’s civil defence office.
One villager drowned in flash floods in Catanduanes province, in the eastern Bicol region. In Catbalogan City, in Eastern Samar province, a woman was killed when she was hit by debris.
Officials stressed that these were only the first confirmed deaths. With roads blocked, phone lines down and whole towns cut off, it was too early to know the full picture. In Aurora province, where the storm made landfall, at least three towns were unreachable because of landslides and broken roads, according to the provincial vice-governor.
More than 30 million people could have been exposed to the storm’s dangers, the Office of Civil Defense said. That is roughly one in every four people in the Philippines.
More than a million people evacuated
The most striking number from this storm is not the wind speed. It is the scale of the evacuation.
More than a million people were moved out of flood- and landslide-prone areas before Fung-wong arrived, according to the Associated Press and Reuters. The BBC put the figure at more than 900,000. Either way, it was one of the largest peacetime evacuations in the country’s recent history.
People were moved from high-risk villages in the north-east, including the Bicol region, a coastal area that is vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and to mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes.
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. had warned before the storm arrived that its impact could be catastrophic. In televised remarks on Saturday, he said the storm could affect a vast area, including Cebu, the central province hit hardest by the previous typhoon, and metropolitan Manila, the densely populated capital region.
He urged people to follow government orders and move to safety early. “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,” Teodoro said.
The government also shut schools and most government offices in the northern provinces for Monday and Tuesday, and warned of a “high risk of life-threatening and damaging storm surge” of more than three metres — nearly 10 feet — along the coasts of more than 20 provinces and regions, including metropolitan Manila.
Forecasters expected more than 200 millimetres of rain in parts of Luzon, with 100 to 200 millimetres even in the Manila area. That is enough to cause severe flooding and landslides, especially in mountainous regions where the ground was already soaked.
A country still reeling from Kalmaegi
Fung-wong arrived at the worst possible time. The Philippines was still dealing with the devastation left by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which struck the central provinces less than a week earlier.
Kalmaegi left at least 224 people dead in the Philippines before moving on to Vietnam, where at least five more were killed. Entire towns in Cebu province were flooded, and the damage was so severe that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency — a step that gives government agencies faster access to emergency funds.
That state of emergency was still in force when Fung-wong arrived, and the president extended the same emergency footing to cover the expected damage from the new storm.
Fung-wong was the 21st tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year. The country is struck by about 20 storms a year on average, but this one stood out for its size and strength. Forecasters called it the biggest typhoon to threaten the Philippines in years.
Transport, power and daily life disrupted
The storm brought large parts of the country to a standstill even before it made landfall.
At least 325 domestic flights and 61 international flights were cancelled over the weekend and into Monday, according to the Associated Press. Reuters reported that more than 400 flights had been cancelled since Sunday. Several airports were closed for safety.
More than 6,600 commuters and cargo workers were stranded in seaports after the coast guard banned ships from sailing into rough seas.
Several eastern towns and cities lost power as the storm approached, the Office of Civil Defense said, and the damage to power lines was expected to grow as the storm crossed Luzon. Repair crews cannot safely work until the winds drop, so some areas could be without electricity for days.
The Philippines has not asked for international help after Kalmaegi, but Teodoro said the United States, the country’s longtime treaty ally, and Japan were ready to provide assistance if needed.
What is a super typhoon?
The word typhoon is used for tropical cyclones in the north-west Pacific. The same kind of storm is called a hurricane in the Atlantic and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean. They are all the same thing: a huge rotating storm that forms over warm ocean water and feeds on heat and moisture from the sea.
What makes one storm more dangerous than another is a mix of wind speed, size, rainfall and where it hits land. A storm does not have to have record winds to cause terrible damage. Slow-moving storms that dump huge amounts of rain can be just as deadly, because floods and landslides kill more people than wind in most Philippine typhoons.
Fung-wong was dangerous on every measure. Its winds reached super typhoon strength, its rain band was enormous, and it moved across Luzon — the island where more than half of the country’s 115 million people live, including the capital, Manila.
The Philippines sits on the western edge of the Pacific typhoon belt, and it is hit by about 20 storms a year. It is also often shaken by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
Warmer oceans are also part of the story. Scientists say that as sea temperatures rise, tropical cyclones can grow stronger and carry more rain. That does not mean climate change caused this particular storm, but it does mean the conditions that produce powerful storms are becoming more common. For more on how a warming Pacific is changing storm patterns, see Typhoons Batter East Asia as El Niño Makes the Pacific ‘Burn With Fever’
What happens next
After crossing Luzon, Fung-wong moved out over the South China Sea on Monday morning. It weakened as it travelled over land, but it was still a typhoon, and forecasters expected it to turn north-east towards Taiwan later in the week.
In Taiwan, the authorities were already preparing, with evacuations ordered in some areas and schools and offices closed in the storm’s expected path.
Back in the Philippines, the hard work was just beginning. Rescue teams were trying to reach the towns cut off by landslides in Aurora and other provinces. Damage assessments were under way, but officials said it would take days to know the full cost.
The first priority is reaching people who are still trapped or without power, water and food. The second is counting the damage to homes, roads, farms and power lines. Only then will the country know whether the huge evacuation effort kept the death toll low, or whether Fung-wong will join Kalmaegi as one of the deadliest storms of the year.
For now, the early signs are mixed. The evacuation of more than a million people was a major achievement, and it almost certainly saved lives. But with whole towns still unreachable and rivers still rising in parts of Luzon, the final toll is not yet known.
Frequently asked questions
What is Super Typhoon Fung-wong?
Fung-wong is a powerful tropical cyclone that hit the Philippines on 9 November 2026. It is known locally as Uwan. It made landfall in Aurora province with sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 230 kilometres per hour.
How many people died?
At least two people were confirmed dead in the first reports after landfall: one person who drowned in flash floods in Catanduanes, and a woman who was hit by debris in Catbalogan City. Officials warned the toll could rise as rescue teams reached cut-off areas.
How many people were evacuated?
More than a million people were evacuated from flood- and landslide-prone areas before the storm arrived, according to the Associated Press and Reuters. The BBC reported more than 900,000 evacuations.
Where did the typhoon make landfall?
The eye of the storm came ashore at Dinalungan town in Aurora province, on the north-east coast of Luzon, at 9:10pm local time on Sunday, 9 November 2026.
What is the difference between a typhoon and a super typhoon?
A typhoon is a tropical cyclone in the north-west Pacific. In the Philippines, a storm is classed as a super typhoon when its sustained winds reach 185 kilometres per hour or more. The category was created to underline the extreme danger of the strongest storms.
Where is Fung-wong going next?
After crossing Luzon, the storm moved over the South China Sea and was forecast to turn north-east towards Taiwan later in the week, weakening as it went.
Why was the Philippines hit by two big storms in one week?
The Philippines is struck by about 20 typhoons and storms a year. Fung-wong followed Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed at least 224 people in the country less than a week earlier. It is the 21st storm to hit the Philippines this year.
Conclusion
Super Typhoon Fung-wong was a test of everything the Philippines has learned about surviving storms. The early warnings worked, the evacuations were enormous, and more than a million people were moved to safety before the winds arrived.
But the storm still killed people, cut off towns, knocked out power and left rescuers digging through mud and debris to reach survivors. It arrived just days after Kalmaegi had already stretched the country’s disaster response to its limit.
As the water drains away and the damage is counted, the question is whether the evacuation effort was enough — and how a country that faces around 20 storms a year can keep rebuilding, again and again, with barely a week between disasters.
Sources
- Associated Press (via Manila Metro): https://www.manilametro.com/news/278683434/super-typhoon-fung-wong-slams-into-philippines-killing-2-and-displacing-1-million
- BBC (via Suriname Times): https://www.surinametimes.com/artikel/super-typhoon-makes-landfall-in-philippines-as-nearly-a-million-evacuated
- Reuters (via AzVision): https://en.azvision.az/news/194263/two-dead,-one-million-evacuated-as-typhoon-fung-wong-slams-into-the-philippines.html
- GKToday: https://www.gktoday.in/typhoon-fung-wong-triggers-mass-evacuations-in-philippines/
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
