Fung-wong: More than a million people evacuated after the typhoon passed through the Philippines

A weakened Typhoon Fung-wong is now passing over the South China Sea and is expected to head towards Taiwan, after leaving two people dead in the Philippines.

About 1.4 million people in the Philippines had been preemptively evacuated before Fung-wong made landfall on Sunday as a super typhoon, with winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) and gusts of 230 km/h (143 mph).

It hit the Aurora province of Luzon, the country’s most populous island, at 9:10 p.m. local time (1:10 p.m. GMT) and weakened into a typhoon hours later.

Fung-wong comes days after Storm Kalmaegi left nearly 200 dead. Philippine authorities report less severe damage than expected, although several communities remain isolated by flooding.

By dawn, the winds from Typhoon Fung-wong that had howled all night had subsided and people came out to see the damage.

There was a lot of damage to buildings, but good preparation appears to have prevented a repeat of the casualties seen after Kalmaegi hit the central Philippines last week.

The country’s weather service had earlier warned of destructive winds and “high risk of life-threatening storm surge” from the “very intense” typhoon.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled, buildings were secured and residents in coastal and low-lying areas were urged to move to higher ground.

At a shelter in downtown Aurora, parents carried young children, too young to remember Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people when it hit the Philippines in 2013.

“We were very worried about the strength of the typhoon and we have to think about the little children,” Jessa Zurbano had previously told the BBC.

Another evacuee, Patry Azul, said: “Our house is made of wood and flimsy materials. We live near the sea, so we didn’t feel safe.”

The winds that Fung-wong brought were not as strong as in some previous storms, and their destructive power quickly weakened after landfall.

According to the civil defense office, two deaths were reported: one person drowned and another woman was found dead under rubble in the town of Catbalogan. Two others were injured.

Still, many neighborhoods have been flooded and some are now cut off from the rest of the country after high water levels cut off roads and bridges.

Aurora officials told local media on Monday that four towns have been placed on lockdown.

Power has been cut across much of the main island of Luzon.

The Philippine government had declared a state of calamity throughout the country in preparation for Typhoon Fung-wong and after Kalmaegi.

This gives government agencies more power to access emergency funds and accelerate the delivery of essential goods and services.

Kalmaegi, one of the strongest typhoons this year, left at least 204 dead in the Philippines, while more than 100 are missing.

Five people also died in Vietnam, where strong winds uprooted trees, tore off roofs and shattered large windows.

Located near the zone where tropical climate systems form in the Pacific Ocean, the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to cyclones.

Every year about 20 tropical cyclones form in that region, half of which directly affect the country.

Climate change is not believed to increase the number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones around the world.

However, warmer oceans, coupled with a warmer atmosphere – fueled by climate change – have the potential to make those that form even more intense. This can potentially lead to higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall and an increased risk of coastal flooding.