Typhoon Kalmaegi has caused a death toll of at least 26 individuals in the Philippines, primarily due to flooding triggered by the storm’s passage through the central region of the country on Tuesday, according to disaster response authorities. The floodwaters stranded numerous people on rooftops and submerged vehicles.
Additionally, six individuals lost their lives in a separate incident when a Philippine Air Force helicopter crashed in southern Agusan del Sur province while en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to areas affected by Kalmaegi. The bodies of all passengers aboard the Super Huey chopper, which went down near Loreto town, were retrieved following a search conducted by the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command. However, details regarding the cause of the crash were not immediately disclosed.
As of the latest observations, Kalmaegi was last located over the coastal waters of Jordan town in Guimaras province, exhibiting sustained winds of 130 km/h and gusts up to 180 km/h. The storm was anticipated to traverse into the South China Sea by late Tuesday or early Wednesday after impacting Palawan province.
Deputy Administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV of the Office of Civil Defence reported that a minimum of 26 fatalities were documented, with many occurring in Cebu province and other central island provinces affected by Kalmaegi, the 20th tropical cyclone to strike the Philippine archipelago this year. The specifics surrounding these casualties were still under validation.
Among the deceased was an elderly resident who drowned in floodwaters in Southern Leyte, where a widespread power outage was recorded following the storm’s landfall around midnight in one of its eastern municipalities. In central Bohol province, a local resident perished after being struck by a fallen tree, according to provincial officials.
Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, mentioned that an unspecified number of individuals were marooned on rooftops due to flooding in the coastal town of Liloan in Cebu. She added that cars were either submerged in floodwaters or adrift in another Cebu community.
In Eastern Samar, where Kalmaegi initially struck early Tuesday, intense winds tore off roofs or inflicted damage on approximately 300 predominantly rural shanties in the island community of Homonhon, part of the town of Guiuan. Despite the structural impact, there were no reports of fatalities or injuries, as stated by Mayor Annaliza Gonzales Kwan.
The Philippines endures an average of 20 typhoons and storms annually, in addition to seismic activity and a considerable number of active volcanoes, rendering it one of the most disaster-prone nations globally.