A powerful typhoon has left at least 66 dead and displaced more than 400,000 residents after tearing through central Philippine islands, officials reported on Wednesday. Typhoon Kalmaegi claimed 49 lives on Cebu, the nation's most densely inhabited central island, where entire communities vanished under floodwaters. Another 26 individuals remain unaccounted for. The death count encompasses six military personnel whose relief helicopter went down on Tuesday near Agusan del Sur in Mindanao while conducting rescue operations.
Provincial Governor Pamela Baricuatro described the catastrophe as unprecedented for Cebu, noting that rising waters rather than fierce winds posed the greatest danger. She activated a state of calamity designation on Tuesday night to expedite emergency response efforts. Most victims drowned as torrential rain sent rivers of mud cascading from mountainsides into populated areas. Debris and vehicles have blocked thoroughfares, complicating aid delivery until weather conditions improve.
The storm struck barely one month after consecutive typhoons battered the archipelago and killed more than a dozen people. Manila experiences an average of 20 such weather systems annually. Kalmaegi is projected to continue westward toward Vietnam across the South China Sea.
Provincial Governor Pamela Baricuatro described the catastrophe as unprecedented for Cebu, noting that rising waters rather than fierce winds posed the greatest danger. She activated a state of calamity designation on Tuesday night to expedite emergency response efforts. Most victims drowned as torrential rain sent rivers of mud cascading from mountainsides into populated areas. Debris and vehicles have blocked thoroughfares, complicating aid delivery until weather conditions improve.
The storm struck barely one month after consecutive typhoons battered the archipelago and killed more than a dozen people. Manila experiences an average of 20 such weather systems annually. Kalmaegi is projected to continue westward toward Vietnam across the South China Sea.
