MANILA - A weakening Typhoon Fung-wong departed the Philippines over the South China Sea on Monday morning, after its driving winds and heavy rain killed at least two people and forced more than a million to evacuate.
Fung-wong, with a footprint that spanned nearly the entirety of the archipelago, slammed into the country's eastern seaboard Sunday evening as a "super typhoon" after uprooting trees and swamping towns further south.
It landed just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the islands of the central Philippines, claiming at least 224 lives.
Schools and government offices across swathes of main island Luzon, including Manila, were closed Monday, though predicted heavy rains had yet to materalise.
In Aurora province, where Fung-wong made landfall the night before, rescue worker Geofry Parrocha said officials were only now able to assess the damage.
"We're seeing many damaged houses and some of our main roads were not passable due to landslides," he told AFP Monday morning from Dipaculao town, where power had yet to be restored.
The state weather service said Monday that the typhoon, which saw 1.4 million people evacuated, was now expected to turn towards Taiwan as it continued to weaken.
On Sunday, Samar province, one of those hammered by Typhoon Kalmaegi last week, recorded the first known death from Fung-wong.
Only days earlier, Typhoon Kalmaegi sent floodwaters rushing through the towns and cities of Cebu and Negros islands, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and massive shipping containers.
Search and rescue efforts in Cebu were suspended on Saturday due to safety concerns over the approaching super typhoon.