Khaberni - More than one million people were evacuated and two died due to floods in the Philippines on Sunday, shortly before the super typhoon "Vongfong" made landfall on the country's east coast, days after a devastating hurricane passed.
The severe typhoon "Vongfong" hits the Philippines less than a week after the destructive typhoon "Kalmaygi" which killed 220 people.
"Vongfong" brings winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour, with the potential to increase to 230 kilometers per hour.
The government civil defense agency reported Sunday the preemptive evacuation of about 1.2 million people before the arrival of the typhoon.
Schools and official facilities will remain closed on Monday in many areas of the country, including the capital Manila, and about 300 flights have been canceled, according to authorities.
Junel Tagarino, in the city of Catbalogan in Samar province, said that a 64-year-old woman fleeing with her family was later found dead.
Shortly after, the civil defense office confirmed a second death, of a person who drowned in a sudden flood on Catanduanes Island.
Edson Casarino, a resident of Catanduanes (Northeast), told Agence France-Presse, "The waves began to surge around 7 a.m. (23,00 GMT Saturday). When they hit the breakwater, it felt as if the ground was shaking."
He added over the phone, "Heavy rain is falling, and violent winds are blowing."
In the north, in Cagayan province, displaced people in a shelter told Agence France-Presse that the fear of flooding prompted them to leave their homes.
Loreta Salkina said, "We suffer greatly from flooding at our home, so when we were asked to evacuate, we did it because we would have been trapped there."
She added: "The storm could rip off our roofs... We are safer here."
On Saturday, residents tried to secure their homes with ropes hoping they would withstand the winds, as shown in pictures shared on social media.
In a video verified by Agence France-Presse, a church in the town of Pilar was surrounded by floodwaters that reached half of its entrance.
South, on the island of Mindanao specifically, floods caused by heavy rain disrupted traffic on Saturday, according to an Agence France-Presse photographer.
In Sorsogon, south of the main island of Luzon, a number of residents took refuge in a church early Saturday.
Among them, Maxine Dogan explained, "I came here because the waves near my home are currently very high. I live near the coast, and the winds there are very strong."
- 200 millimeters of rain -
Government meteorologist Penison Estareja explained in a press conference that the hurricane could cause "200 millimeters or more of rain, which could lead to widespread flooding, not only in low-lying areas."
He continued, "It is possible that our largest water basins would overflow."
This hurricane sweeps through the archipelago just days after the typhoon "Kalmaygi" which killed more than 224 people in the country, according to the latest official figures, thus becoming the most violent hurricane this year, according to the "EM-Dat" database.
Cebu province (central) recorded the highest number of victims, and rescue operations there stopped on Saturday due to the arrival of typhoon "Vongfong".
Mira Daven, a regional rescue operations manager, told Agence France-Presse, "We cannot expose the rescuers to danger. We don't want them to become victims in turn."
The Philippines is hit or approached by about 20 storms or typhoons annually, and often the poorer areas are the most affected.
According to scientists, climate change caused by human activities makes extreme weather phenomena more frequent, severe, and destructive.
Due to the warming oceans, hurricanes become more severe, while the general increase in temperature makes the atmosphere more humid, leading to heavier rainfall.
After causing widespread destruction in the Philippines, typhoon "Kalmaygi" killed five people in Vietnam as it struck while its strength was waning.
