The death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines has risen to 114, with at least 127 people still missing, the country’s disaster agency said on Thursday.
The powerful storm, which tore through central regions earlier this week, has regained strength over the South China Sea and is now barreling toward Vietnam.
In the Philippines, the worst devastation was reported in Cebu province, where floodwaters have begun to recede, exposing flattened homes, overturned vehicles, and streets filled with debris.
More than 200,000 people had been evacuated ahead of the storm’s landfall on Tuesday, but many have since returned to find their homes destroyed.
“The challenge now is debris clearing,” said Raffy Alejandro, a senior civil defense official, in an interview with DZBB radio. “These areas must be cleared quickly, not only to locate the missing, who may be trapped under debris or have reached safe zones, but also to allow relief operations to proceed.”
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said hundreds of emergency workers were continuing search and recovery efforts across storm-hit communities.
The typhoon’s impact came just a month after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck northern Cebu, compounding recovery challenges for local residents.
As Kalmaegi, known locally as Tino, moved westward, it intensified once again, with forecasters warning of destructive winds and heavy rainfall likely to batter Vietnam’s central coast.
Authorities in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province said around 350,000 people were expected to be evacuated by Thursday afternoon amid warnings of flash floods and landslides in low-lying and mountainous areas.
Thousands of soldiers have been placed on standby to assist in evacuations and rescue efforts. Vietnam’s aviation authorities said operations at eight airports, including Da Nang International Airport, could be disrupted as airlines were urged to monitor conditions closely.
Meanwhile, Philippine meteorologists warned that another weather disturbance is developing east of Mindanao and could strengthen into a typhoon early next week, raising fears of renewed damage in the storm-battered nation.
Kalmaegi is the 20th tropical cyclone to strike the Philippines this year, underscoring the country’s ongoing vulnerability to increasingly powerful storms intensified by changing climate patterns.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
