LEGAZPI CITY—Toppled electric poles, fallen tree branches and leaves, and debris littered key streets of the city after Supertyphoon “Uwan” surged past Albay on Sunday on its way to northeastern Luzon.

Uwan (known internationally as Fung-wong) unleashed powerful winds and heavy rains that brought floods to neighborhoods, farms and commercial districts in many areas in Albay. But no damage to major infrastructure facilities was reported in the downtown area of Legazpi.

“Floodwaters here swelled like an ocean,” Carl Vincent Sasota Sedutan of Barangay Bulusan in Libon town wrote in a Facebook post. He said the water level reached as high as a two-story house.

Bulusan, a largely agricultural village, also suffered severe flooding during the onslaught of Typhoon “Kristine” in 2024. Farmers lost around ₱50 million worth of crops, equipment, and houses.

There has been no word on casualties, but local officials placed the total number of evacuated residents at 256,994 as of Monday.

On Saturday, the weather agency Pagasa placed Albay and parts of Camarines Sur under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 4 as Uwan intensified and entered the Bicol region from the Pacific Ocean with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour and gustiness of 230 kph.

Uwan was moving west-northwest at 25 kph but slowed down to 20 kph as it headed toward northern Luzon.

At 2 a.m. on Monday, the typhoon was located near Bagulin, La Union, after slicing through the mainland from Aurora and the Sierra Madre corridor. It had peak winds of 165 kph and gusts of up to 275 kph, its forceful heaves stretching to up to 780 km from the center.

It is expected to gradually weaken as it exits toward the West Philippine Sea by Tuesday, Pagasa said.

Uwan dumped a record 200 millimeters of rainfall on Albay at its peak around 11 a.m. on Saturday, according to the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

Hours later, residents of Barangay 18 (Cabangan West), Barangay 15 (Ilawod East) and other communities waded in nearly knee-high flood. Motorists crowded a Sea Oil gas station after the Albay Electric Cooperative declared a province-wide power outage.

In Daraga town, families from high-risk and low-lying areas occupied the Daraga National High School and other designated temporary shelters after local officials ordered a preemptive evacuation on Saturday before Uwan made landfall.

A total of 1,488 families streamed toward the Daraga Community College and public elementary schools in Barangays Budiao, Malobago, Bascaran, Kilicao, and Bongalon, and several private establishments.

Fishers were warned of a possible three-meter storm surge and advised to stay away from coastal waters and suspend marine activities. In Barangay Puro in Legazpi, locals erected barricades of sand-filled sacks along the coastal pavements as a precautionary measure.

In Camalig town, floodwaters in Barangay Palanog carried aggregates and gasoline cans believed to have come from a company compound that was once farmland.

John Legisniana, a resident, said the water level rose fast within five hours, submerging half of his family’s home. He said a dike 30 meters from his home could not stop the floodwaters although it has been declared a finished flood control project.