18 killed, 28 hurt as Typhoon Fung-wong swoops into Philippines province

By Jayvee Vallejera

Manila--Supertyphoon Fung-wong (locally known as Uwan) killed 18 people and hurt 28 others in the Philippines when it tore into the country last Sunday, but it has now weakened into a severe tropical storm as it heads for Taiwan.

The Philippines’ Office of Civil Defense reported that Typhoon Fung-wong, which was packing winds of 115 miles per hour when it made landfall on Luzon island, killed 18 people in all, 15 of them in Cordillera and Central Luzon, which bore the brunt of the typhoon, and one each in the Bicol Region, Western Visayas and Eastern Visayas.

The 15 fatalities in Cordillera and Central Luzon, which reportedly included two 5-year-old twins, were killed in landslides, while those in other regions died either due to drowning, being electrocuted, or being hit by typhoon debris.

Two persons are reportedly missing, while 28 were injured, the office said.

The OCD expects the number of casualties to go up, but not significantly.

The typhoon had an outer diameter of about 1,100 miles (1,800 kms) and its cloud cover nearly spanned the entire Philippines, affecting not just Luzon but also the Visayas and Mindanao.

More than 2.3 million people across 15 regions were affected, and nearly 1.5 million were evacuated to shelters before the typhoon hit.

The highest number of affected persons was reported in Bicol, followed by Negros Island and Eastern Visayas. The national disaster council said there were also affected families in Mindanao and the Western Visayas region. The capital city of Manila reportedly had 17,704 affected families.

Of the 2.3 million affected people, more than 200,000 families are scattered across 10,000-plus evacuation centers.

There has been no report yet on the cost of the damage the country sustained from the typhoon, especially its impacts on infrastructure and agriculture.

Fung-wong caused extensive damage across the country, resulting in flooded coastlines across Luzon, ripping roofs off of homes, uprooting trees, and toppling power lines across Luzon and Eastern Visayas islands.

The national disaster council reports that 267 areas in eight regions are still flooded, with the Bicol province having the highest number of flooded areas. Floods were also reported in Mindanao, Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas and the Ilocos region.

The council also reports that many roads and bridges remain impassable, with Bicol having impassable roads that number more than a hundred. Several areas in the Cagayan Valley are also cut off due to damaged bridges.

Power and water supplies remain spotty. More than 300 cities and municipalities still have no power. About 20 cities don’t have a water supply.

The Philippine weather bureau, Pagasa, reports that, although Fung-wong is already outside the country, it continues to bring winds to the northernmost parts of the Philippines, like Batanes and Babuyan Islands.

In its newest bulletin, Pagasa said Fung-wong has now weakened to 84 miles per hour (135 kph) and is expected to make landfall in Taiwan on Wednesday evening.

Pagasa said Fung-wong will continue to further weaken between Thursday evening and Friday and become a low-pressure area.

Fung-wong hit the country even as the Philippines is still reeling from Typhoon Kalmaegi (locally known as Typhoon Tino), a powerful typhoon that struck central Visayas in early November, killing more than 200 people, causing widespread damage in several regions, particularly in Cebu and Western Visayas, and flooding that saw people clinging to the roofs of their homes and cars piled on top of one another.

Cebu was also near the epicenter of a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 79 people last September.

Because of its location within the western Pacific typhoon belt, where most typhoons develop, the Philippines experiences about 20 tropical cyclones every year. Ten of them usually make landfall in the country and five are usually destructive.

The strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines so far this year was Supertyphoon Nando (165 miles per hour), a Category 5 typhoon locally known as Ragasa, which hit the country in September. It is known as one of the most intense typhoons recorded in 2025.