Most of the deaths were reported in the central province of Cebu, which was pummelled by Kalmaegi on Tuesday, setting off flash floods and causing a river and other waterways to overflow.
CEBU: Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 140 people, with 127 missing, after unleashing devastating flooding across the central Philippines, official figures showed on Thursday (Nov 6), as the storm headed towards Vietnam.
The national civil defence office confirmed 114 reported deaths, though that tally did not include an additional 28 recorded by Cebu provincial authorities.
Most of the deaths were reported in the central province of Cebu, which was pummelled by Kalmaegi on Tuesday, setting off flash floods and causing a river and other waterways to overflow, said Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.
Kalmaegi moved away from western Palawan province into the South China Sea before noon Wednesday and was barreling toward Vietnam, according to forecasters.
Among the dead were six people who were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday. The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by Kalmaegi, the military said. It did not give the cause of the crash.
CENTRAL PROVINCE HIT HARDEST
Provincial officials said Kalmaegi set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell. The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing residents to climb on their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the floodwaters rose, officials said.
At least 71 people died in Cebu, mostly due to drownings, 65 others were reported missing and 69 were injured, the Office of Civil Defense said.
It added that 62 others were reported missing in the central province of Negros Occidental, which is located near Cebu.
“We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are really some unexpected things like flash floods,” Cebu governor Pamela Baricuatro told The Associated Press by telephone.
Caloy Ramirez, a volunteer rescuer, said the massive flooding set off by the typhoon turned an upscale riverside residential community in Cebu city on Tuesday into an unrecognisable scene of tumbled SUVs and houses in disarray.
Residents said floodwater engulfed the first floors of their houses in just a few minutes, sending them scrambling to upper floors or roofs in panic.
“We always expect the worst and what I saw yesterday was the worst,” Ramirez told The AP. He described how the faces of desperate residents would light up when they realised they were being rescued.
CONCERNS OVER FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS
The problems may have been made worse by years of quarrying that caused clogging of nearby rivers, which overflowed, and substandard flood control projects in Cebu province, Baricuatro said.
A corruption scandal involving substandard or non-existent flood control projects across the Philippines has sparked public outrage and street protests in recent months.
Cebu, a bustling province of more than 2.4 million people, declared a state of calamity to allow authorities to disburse emergency funds more rapidly.
Cebu was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Sep 30 that left at least 79 people dead and displaced thousands when houses collapsed or were severely damaged.
Thousands of northern Cebu residents who were displaced by the earthquake were moved to sturdier evacuation shelters from flimsy tents before the typhoon struck, Baricuatro said. Northern towns devastated by the earthquake were mostly not hit by floods generated by Kalmaegi, she added.
Before Kalmaegi’s landfall, officials said more than 387,000 people had evacuated to safer ground in eastern and central Philippine provinces.
Ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing out to increasingly rough seas, stranding more than 3,500 passengers and cargo truck drivers in nearly 100 seaports, the coast guard said. At least 186 domestic flights were cancelled.
The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country is also often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
