By Desiree Salas (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 19, 2014 11:20 AM EDT

Tropical Storm Fung-Wong, also called Mario in the Philippines, has already made landfall in the Southeast Asian country and is slowly moving on a northwesterly path. It has brought heavy rainfall, which caused much flooding in the areas affected by the storm.

"Heavy rains brought by the outer bands of Tropical Storm Mario (Fung-Wong) shut down the Philippine capital Manila on Friday, stranding motorists and forcing tens of thousands to flee their flooded homes," ABS-CBN News reported. "A major river burst its banks on Manila's heavily populated eastern districts, while other parts of the sprawling metropolis and the region north of the capital also suffered widespread flooding, though no casualties were reported."

In a more recent update, Weather.com relayed that the flooding has displaced no less than 37,000, with three deaths attributed to the weather event. On the other hand, the latest estimate of the nation's Department of Social Welfare and Development puts the number of people affected by the flooding at half a million.

According to Rappler, the storm has caused the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to halt its operations Friday as work in government offices were suspended by the authorities of the nation.

"The government declared a school holiday and sent home government employees not involved in rescue operations and medical emergencies, while financial markets closed down," ABS-CBN News also said.

Typhoon Fung-Wong, which means "Phoenix," was formed on Thursday east of the Philippines and followed a northwesterly path, moving at a slow pace of 19 kilometers per hour. It is forecasted to leave the country by Sunday afternoon, Yahoo Philippines noted.

Meanwhile, Weather.com predicts that Fung-Wong will come close to Taiwan this coming weekend as it is "expected to track north, as the upper-level ridge weakens and an upper-level trough strengthens to the north." However, the storm's exact track is not certain yet.

"There is some uncertainty in the timing of when Fung-Wong turns northeast after impacting Taiwan. Depending on the exact track it could make landfall in eastern China, near Shanghai and or track closer to the Ryukyu Islands," the site analyzed. "It may also bring heavy rain to South Korea and Japan next week, bringing the risk of flooding to areas in Japan that have recently seen flooding and landslides."

Fung-Wong, compared to last year's typhoon Haiyan, is considerably weaker in intensity as its gustiness is at 80 kilometers per hour, the Wall Street Journal noted. The latter had sustained winds of 250 kilometers per hour and had claimed more than 7,000 lives in the Philippines in November last year.

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