MANILA, Philippines, Nov 9, (AP): Super Typhoon Fung-wong, the biggest storm to threaten the Philippines this year, started battering the country’s northeastern coast ahead of landfall on Sunday, knocking down power, forcing the evacuation of more than a million people and prompting the defense chief to warn many others to evacuate to safety from high-risk villages before it’s too late.

Fung-wong, which could cover two-thirds of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,600-kilometer- (994-mile-) wide rain and wind band, approached from the Pacific while the Philippines was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central island provinces on Tuesday before pummeling Vietnam, where at least five were killed.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of emergency due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected calamity from Fung-wong, which is called Uwan in the Philippines. Fung-wong, with winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph), was spotted by government forecasters before noon Sunday over coastal waters near the town of Pandan in eastern Catanduanes province, where torrential rains and fog have obscured visibility.

The typhoon is expected to track northwestward and make landfall on the coast of Aurora or Isabela province later Sunday or early Monday, state forecasters said. Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185 kph (115 mph) or higher are categorized in the Philippines as a super typhoon, a designation adopted years ago to underscore the urgency tied to more extreme weather disturbances.

"The rain and wind were so strong there was nearly zero visibility,” Roberto Monterola, a disaster-mitigation officer for Catanduanes, told The Associated Press by telephone, adding there have been no reports of casualties so far in the island province of more than 200,000 people. But despite calls for residents to evacuate from disaster-prone areas Saturday, some still stayed on.

"Our personnel rescued 14 people who were trapped on the roof of a house engulfed in flood in a low-lying neighborhood,” Monterola said. "A father also called in panic, saying the roof of his house was about to be ripped off by the wind. We saved him and four relatives.” Over a million people were evacuated from high-risk villages in northeastern provinces, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who oversees the country’s disaster response agencies and the military, warned about the potentially catastrophic impact of Fung-wong in televised remarks Saturday. He said the storm could affect a vast expanse of the country, including Cebu, the central province hit hardest by Typhoon Kalmaegi, and metropolitan Manila, the densely populated capital region which is the seat of power and the country’s financial center.