Typhoon Fung-wong, also known locally as Uwan, wreaked havoc across the northern Philippines, claiming at least two lives and forcing over one million people to evacuate as it made landfall on Sunday night, November 9, 2025.
The super typhoon struck the eastern town of Dinalungan in Aurora province before battering large parts of the main island of Luzon with fierce winds, torrential rain, and devastating storm surges.
The typhoon’s violent impact was most severe in the northern regions, where the powerful winds uprooted trees, destroyed homes, and left widespread damage. In Santiago, Isabela province, homes were heavily damaged, and power lines and tree branches were torn down by the typhoon’s force.
Local residents, including Romeo Mariano, who sheltered with his grandmother during the storm, described the terrifying conditions, with winds howling against metal roofs and branches crashing nearby.
“We could not sleep last night because of the winds hitting our metal sheets and the tree branches falling,” Mariano recalled. “When we got out to check our home, we saw the damage.”
According to the Civil Defence office, two people were confirmed dead, and at least two others were injured. Aurora’s vice-governor, Patrick Alexis Angara, reported that several towns, particularly those in mountainous areas, were cut off due to landslides and damaged roads. “Assessment and clearing operations are underway,” he told local broadcaster DZMM.
By Monday morning, as the storm began to move over the South China Sea, the Philippine weather agency warned that many areas still faced heavy rainfall, strong winds, and storm swells along the coast. Coastal communities were urged to remain on high alert, with ongoing threats of flash floods and landslides.
More than 400 flights were canceled on Sunday as the typhoon disrupted transportation, and local authorities continue to monitor the situation closely. Fung-wong was the 21st storm to strike the Philippines in 2025, coming just days after the deadly Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed at least 224 people in the Philippines and five others in Vietnam.
As the storm moved northeast toward Taiwan, the Philippines braced for further impacts. The aftermath of Typhoon Fung-wong will likely include long recovery efforts, with the government and local responders focused on providing aid and restoring essential services to the hardest-hit regions.
The toll of lives lost and widespread damage serves as a stark reminder of the Philippines’ vulnerability to frequent and intense natural disasters, as the nation continues to face an annual onslaught of typhoons, each one increasingly severe due to the changing climate.
