Key Highlights:
- Super Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall in Aurora province on November 10, 2025, with sustained winds of 185 km/h and gusts reaching 230 km/h, marking the 21st tropical cyclone to strike the Philippines this year
- The storm claimed at least 18 lives across multiple provinces and displaced over 1.4 million people, with power outages affecting 184,000 customers
- Coming just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi killed 232 people, the back-to-back disasters pushed the combined death toll to 250 and highlighted the nation’s escalating climate vulnerability
Opening Overview
Super Typhoon Fung-wong slammed into the northeastern Philippines on Sunday night, unleashing catastrophic flooding, landslides, and destructive winds that left at least 18 people dead and forced more than 1.4 million residents to flee their homes. The Category 5 super typhoon made landfall in Dinalungan municipality, Aurora province, at approximately 9:10 PM local time on November 10, 2025, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour and gusts reaching 230 km/h. Super Typhoon Fung-wong, known locally as Uwan by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), became the 21st tropical cyclone to hit the archipelago nation this year, surpassing the country’s annual average of 20 storms.
The devastating arrival of Super Typhoon Fung-wong occurred mere days after Typhoon Kalmaegi ravaged central provinces, killing 232 people and leaving 112 missing, creating a humanitarian crisis that has tested the nation’s disaster response capabilities to their limits. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency on Thursday in anticipation of Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s impact, recognizing the compounding threats posed by successive powerful storms. The storm’s massive 1,800-kilometer width brought torrential rainfall and life-threatening storm surges across Luzon Island, the country’s most populous region, before weakening as it traversed mountainous terrain and emerged over the South China Sea.
Catastrophic Landfall and Immediate Devastation
Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s landfall in Aurora province marked one of the most powerful tropical cyclones to strike the Philippines in 2025, with meteorological data confirming its Category 5 super typhoon classification. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration had issued warnings about the destructive winds and high likelihood of life-threatening storm surges from this “very intense” system hours before Super Typhoon Fung-wong reached land. The massive storm system, spanning 1,800 kilometers in diameter, dwarfed previous cyclones and brought widespread devastation across multiple provinces simultaneously.
- Aurora province experienced the brunt of Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s initial impact, with the municipality of Dinalungan recording sustained winds equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale
- Northern Luzon provinces including Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and the Cordillera Administrative Region faced torrential rainfall, with some areas recording over 390 millimeters of precipitation within 48 hours
Power infrastructure across the affected regions collapsed under Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s destructive force, plunging entire provinces into darkness. According to official reports, power outages affected at least 184,000 customers across Luzon and Eastern Visayas, disrupting critical services including water supply systems, communications networks, and hospital operations. In Cabanatuan, one of the areas most severely impacted by Super Typhoon Fung-wong, residents emerged on Monday morning to find their neighborhoods submerged in floodwaters, with many rushing to retrieve furniture and pets as water levels continued rising.
The storm’s interaction with Luzon’s rugged mountainous terrain caused Super Typhoon Fung-wong to weaken considerably, though meteorologists confirmed it retained typhoon strength while crossing the landmass before emerging over Lingayen Gulf. Transportation infrastructure sustained significant damage, with at least 132 villages in northern regions experiencing severe flooding, and road networks rendered impassable due to landslides and fallen debris.
Super typhoon Fung-Wong has just made landfall in the Philippines. It’s already resulted in 2 deaths and over 1 million people have been evacuated.
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) November 10, 2025
Further confirmation of Hanke’s Schoolboy’s Theory of History: It’s just one damn thing after another.pic.twitter.com/tloww79NDg
Mounting Death Toll and Humanitarian Crisis
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) confirmed that Super Typhoon Fung-wong claimed at least 18 lives across multiple provinces, though the Office of Civil Defense warned that casualty figures could rise as search and rescue operations reached isolated communities. Landslides triggered by Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s torrential rainfall proved particularly deadly in mountainous provinces, with Nueva Vizcaya reporting three children killed in two separate incidents in the towns of Kayapa and Kasibu, where four others sustained injuries. The Cordillera Administrative Region experienced some of Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s most tragic consequences, with seven people killed and two injured in multiple landslides, while two others remained missing as of November 11, 2025.
- One person drowned in flash floods in Catanduanes province on the eastern seaboard, highlighting the storm surge and coastal flooding dangers associated with Super Typhoon Fung-wong
- In Catbalogan city, Eastern Samar province, another victim perished when her house collapsed under the combined assault of high winds and structural instability
- An elderly person lost their life in a mudslide in Barlig, a mountainous town in Mountain Province, demonstrating Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s widespread geographic impact
The massive displacement caused by Super Typhoon Fung-wong created an unprecedented humanitarian challenge, with over 1.4 million people seeking refuge in emergency shelters or with relatives ahead of the storm’s landfall. As conditions stabilized on Tuesday, approximately 240,000 individuals remained in evacuation centers, unable to return to damaged or destroyed homes. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV from the Office of Civil Defense confirmed that Super Typhoon Fung-wong damaged around 1,000 homes across northern regions, with assessment teams working to determine the full extent of infrastructure losses. The storm’s residual rains continued posing threats to areas of northern Luzon, including metropolitan Manila, even after Super Typhoon Fung-wong exited into the South China Sea, complicating rescue and relief operations.
This was the Island of Catanduanes in the Philippines during Super Typhoon Fung-Wong (UwanPH).
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) November 10, 2025
From all the footage I've seen, I'd say they came off the worst. Fingers crossed this is the last typhoon of the season. They've had enough!pic.twitter.com/Q8GcygAjjt
Record-Breaking Storm Season and Climate Change Connection
Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s arrival as the 21st tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in 2025 marked a significant exceedance of the nation’s annual average of 20 storms, underscoring the intensifying pattern of extreme weather events. According to data from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the country typically experiences approximately 20 tropical cyclones entering its area of responsibility each year, with the peak season occurring from July through October when nearly 70 percent of all typhoons develop. The 2025 Pacific typhoon season had already demonstrated unusual activity patterns, with PAGASA statistics showing the Philippines experienced 21 named storms by early November, eight of which intensified to typhoon strength.
The unprecedented occurrence of two super typhoons within a single week—with Super Typhoon Fung-wong following closely after Typhoon Kalmaegi—represents a historically rare meteorological event that climate scientists attribute to rising ocean temperatures. Research indicates that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of tropical storms, known as hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons in different regions, primarily due to elevated sea surface temperatures that increase atmospheric water vapor and heat content. Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s timing coincided with the convening of global representatives in Belem, Brazil, for COP30, the annual United Nations Climate Conference, where vulnerable nations including the Philippines have been urging major emitters to provide climate disaster funding.
| 2025 Philippine Tropical Cyclone Statistics | Data Points |
|---|---|
| Total tropical cyclones (as of November 11) | 21 systems |
| Annual average tropical cyclones | 20 systems |
| Named storms in 2025 | 14 named |
| Typhoon-strength systems | 8 typhoons |
| People affected by Kalmaegi | 2.4 million |
| Combined deaths (Kalmaegi + Fung-wong) | 250 fatalities |
The Philippines ranks among the world’s most typhoon-prone nations, with Time magazine declaring it the “most exposed country in the world to tropical storms” in 2013. Historical data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council shows that between 2010 and 2020, tropical cyclones in the Philippines caused nearly 10,000 deaths, affected over 80 million people, and damaged or destroyed more than 5 million houses, with reported economic losses exceeding 359 billion Philippine pesos.
Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s destructive path follows this devastating pattern, with the storm’s Category 5 classification placing it among the most powerful systems to strike the archipelago in recent years. Climate scientists warn that vulnerable nations like the Philippines, which have contributed minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions, face disproportionate consequences from the climate crisis while major emitters continue allocating approximately $1 trillion annually to fossil fuel subsidies.
🚨#BREAKING
— OmiVerseGlobal (@omiverseglobal) November 9, 2025
At least two dead as Super Typhoon Fung-wong nears landfall in the Philippines 🇵ðŸ‡
Packing winds over 220 km/h, Fung-wong has triggered severe flooding and power outages across Luzon. Authorities are racing to evacuate coastal areas as the storm tests Manila’s… pic.twitter.com/SwgJufJvx7
Infrastructure Damage and Economic Consequences
Super Typhoon Fung-wong inflicted catastrophic damage on critical infrastructure across northern Luzon, with initial assessments revealing widespread destruction to transportation networks, electrical systems, and agricultural lands. Vice-Governor Patrick Alexis Angara of Aurora province reported that at least three towns remained unreachable due to landslides and damaged roads, severely hampering assessment and clearing efforts. The storm’s powerful winds toppled numerous utility poles and tree branches across Isabela province, particularly in the northern city of Santiago, where Super Typhoon Fung-wong caused considerable damage to residential structures.
The electrical grid sustained severe impacts from Super Typhoon Fung-wong, with power outages affecting entire provinces and disrupting essential services for 184,000 customers. Metro Rail Transit Line 3 operations were suspended due to power disruptions, stranding thousands of commuters in metropolitan Manila. In the Bicol Region, storm surges reaching up to 4 meters were observed in Catanduanes and Albay provinces, with Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s peripheral effects triggering lahar flows in Albay. Transportation infrastructure suffered extensive damage, with the Calabanga-Tinambac Road in Camarines Sur blocked by falling debris, while the Tinambac-Tamban Road and Tinambac-Goa Road remained closed. A rail bridge in Guinobatan, Albay sustained structural damage, forcing the Philippine National Railways to suspend its Naga-Legazpi route indefinitely.
Agricultural losses from Super Typhoon Fung-wong are expected to reach billions of Philippine pesos, compounding the economic devastation from Typhoon Kalmaegi just days earlier. The two storms combined displaced millions of residents and destroyed homes, farms, and key infrastructure including roads and bridges across multiple regions. Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s massive size and prolonged rainfall caused widespread flooding in agricultural plains, threatening rice harvests and livestock operations across northern provinces.
Historical data indicates that major typhoons in the Philippines routinely cause agricultural losses exceeding tens of billions of pesos, with infrastructure damage adding comparable economic burdens. As Super Typhoon Fung-wong moved toward Taiwan, where over 30,000 individuals were evacuated in anticipation of its arrival, the regional economic implications continued expanding. Philippine authorities have mobilized rescue, relief, and disaster-response operations, though the scale of destruction from Super Typhoon Fung-wong and preceding storms has strained government resources and international humanitarian assistance capacity.
Over 100,000 Evacuated as Super Typhoon Fung-wong Batters the Philippines pic.twitter.com/j7I0fpBJEO
— Sisimua (@Sisimua606) November 9, 2025
Final Perspective
Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s catastrophic passage through the Philippines underscores the escalating vulnerability of Southeast Asian nations to increasingly powerful tropical cyclones in an era of accelerating climate change. The storm’s designation as the 21st tropical cyclone to strike the Philippines in 2025 represents not merely a statistical anomaly but a profound warning about the intensifying pattern of extreme weather events that threaten millions of lives and livelihoods across the archipelago. As Super Typhoon Fung-wong weakened over the South China Sea and approached Taiwan, Filipino communities began the arduous process of recovery, even as meteorologists monitored additional weather systems forming in the Western Pacific basin.
The back-to-back devastation from Typhoon Kalmaegi and Super Typhoon Fung-wong, claiming a combined 250 lives and displacing millions, has reignited urgent calls for wealthy nations to fulfill climate finance commitments and support vulnerable countries bearing disproportionate consequences of the global climate crisis. With peak typhoon season extending through October and the Philippines averaging 20 tropical cyclones annually, Super Typhoon Fung-wong’s deadly toll serves as a stark reminder that disaster preparedness, climate adaptation infrastructure, and international cooperation remain critical imperatives for protecting vulnerable populations from nature’s increasingly violent storms.
