Super Typhoon Fung-wong Batters Northern Philippines; Christians Urge Prayers Amid Devastation (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

CEBU CITY/ISABELA/BONGABON (Worthy News) – Residents on Luzon Island, the largest and most populated island of the Philippines, assessed the damage early Monday after a sleepless night when Super Typhoon Fung-wong, locally known as Uwan, killed at least two people and injured several others.

Authorities said one victim drowned in Catanduanes Province after being swept away by floodwaters, while another died when a house collapsed in Northern Samar, both located on the eastern side of Luzon and its nearby islands. Officials warned the death toll could rise as communication lines remain down in several northern and eastern provinces.

The biggest typhoon to threaten the Philippines in years, Fung-wong was initially feared to cover two-thirds of the archipelago with its 1,800-kilometer (1,118-mile)-wide rain and wind band, forecasters said.

More than one million people were evacuated before Fung-wong made landfall as a super typhoon in the eastern town of Dinalungan in Aurora Province on Sunday night.

It pounded this and other parts of Luzon Island, the country’s economic and political heartland, including the capital, Manila, with fierce winds, heavy rain, and storm swells through the night. Christian farmer Clarita Orfrecio told Worthy News she prayed her municipality of Bongabon, on Luzon’s central plains, would be spared this time. “I needed to stock up on food,” the mother of three said. “We may soon have no electricity and internet.”

Yet she stressed that as a believer, she was encouraged by Bible verses such as 1 Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.”

NORTHERN LUZON FACING WINDS AND FLOODING

Hours after she spoke to Worthy News, the super storm damaged houses in the northern city of Santiago in Isabela Province, also on Luzon Island.

The typhoon also toppled trees and power poles. “We could not sleep last night because of the winds hitting our metal sheets and the tree branches falling,” added Romeo Mariano, who was sheltering with his grandmother in their home.

Metal roofing sheets were ripped off by gusts overnight as the eye wall passed near northern Luzon, witnesses said.

Strong waves smashed into the coastline of the town of Dinapigue, also in Isabela Province, with residents shouting and crying in panic as they fled to higher ground, footage obtained by Worthy News showed.

The powerful cyclone was also expected to make another landfall in Aurora Province, which is among the most storm-exposed regions of Luzon and the Philippines.

A NATION STRUCK TWICE IN A WEEK

Fung-wong was the 21st storm to hit the Philippines this year and came immediately after Typhoon Kalmaegi, which last week killed at least 224 people in the country and another five in Vietnam.

It approached from the Pacific while the Philippines was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Kalmaegi.

“We are all safe, but the situation there is very difficult,” said Christian aid worker Merry Joy Osman, who provided Worthy News with regular updates about conditions in Cebu Province, in the central Philippines, which was hard hit by Kalmaegi — locally referred to as Typhoon Tino.

She had just returned from a daring visit on her motorbike to Nangka Balamban village in Balamban municipality, 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Cebu City, on the western coast of Cebu Island, where she lives.

She said she saw at least two dead bodies while visiting friends and family members “trapped by flooding,” including her sister, a five-month-old baby, and her nine-year-old niece. “They need a lot of water, food, and also medicines. We brought some food and meds, but that won’t last for a couple of days. They received relief from private individuals only for one to two days,” Osman added.

IN THE PATH OF PACIFIC STORMS

The misery came as the Philippines sits directly in the “Typhoon Belt” of the Western Pacific Ocean, one of the world’s most active tropical cyclone regions. The warm waters of the Pacific Ocean east of the archipelago continually fuel the formation of powerful storms that strike the country several times a year, according to experts.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) announced that Fung-wong carried sustained winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour) near the center, with gusts reaching 230 kilometers per hour (143 miles per hour).

As of Monday morning, the storm’s center was moving northwest over the West Philippine Sea, and was expected “to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Tuesday,” possibly heading toward Taiwan, authorities said.

However, officials warned that heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides remained a threat in northern and central Luzon, while coastal areas faced storm surges exceeding three meters (10 feet).

Osman and other Christians in the region urged continued prayers. “Typhoons are part of our lives, I guess,” Osman noticed quietly.

(With local reporting for Worthy News from the Luzon and Cebu islands.)

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