More than one million evacuate as Super Typhoon Fung-wong threatens Philippines

Parts of the country, including Talisay, Cebu Province, were devastated by Typhoon Kalmaegi earlier this week (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office/AP)

Super Typhoon Fung-wong, the biggest storm to threaten the Philippines this year, has started battering the country’s north-eastern coast ahead of making landfall, knocking out power, forcing the evacuation of more than a million people, and prompting the defence chief to urge many others to flee to safety from high-risk villages before it is too late.

Fung-wong, which could cover two-thirds of the south-east Asian archipelago with its 994-mile wide rain and wind band, is approaching from the Pacific while the Philippines is still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi. That storm left at least 224 people dead in central island provinces on Tuesday before hitting Vietnam, where at least five were killed.