Philippines Typhoon Kalmaegi Live Updates: Philippines declares state of emergency after Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves over 240 dead or missing

Vietnam shut six airports on Thursday as Typhoon Kalmaegi barrelled toward its central coast, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights, according to a government statement.

Airports in Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, Tuy Hoa, Chi Lai, Phu Cat, and Lien Khuong were closed ahead of the storm’s landfall, with authorities warning of heavy rains and strong winds across several provinces. (Reuters)

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Thursday declared a state of emergency after Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 114 people and left more than 100 missing in the country’s central provinces, AP reported. Most deaths were caused by drowning in flash floods, while 127 people remained missing, many in the worst-hit province of Cebu. The storm moved out of the Philippines and into the South China Sea on Wednesday.

Nearly 2 million people were affected by the typhoon, which displaced over 560,000 residents and forced nearly 450,000 into evacuation shelters, according to the Office of Civil Defense. In Cebu, where Kalmaegi dumped one-and-a-half months’ worth of rainfall in just a day, floodwaters submerged homes and streets and swept away vehicles. “We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are really some unexpected things like flash floods,” Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro told AP. She said years of quarrying and poor flood control infrastructure likely worsened the disaster.

Marcos’s declaration of a “state of national calamity” aims to speed up the release of emergency funds and prevent food hoarding and price hikes. Disaster officials warned that another tropical cyclone forming over the Pacific could intensify into a super typhoon and strike the northern Philippines early next week. Among those killed in storm-related incidents were six air force personnel whose helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur while on a humanitarian mission, officials said.

Vietnam’s southern regions, including Ho Chi Minh City, are bracing for Kalmaegi’s arrival. Forecasters warned that high tides on the Saigon River could combine with heavy rainfall of up to 100 millimetres, increasing the risk of severe flooding in low-lying neighbourhoods, according to AP.

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 also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Central Vietnam, still reeling from days of record rain that triggered flash floods and landslides, was bracing for more pounding rain as Kalmaegi nears.

Fishing boats returned to shore while local authorities readied evacuation plans, secured shelters and stockpiled food, state media reported.

(AP)

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.

(AP)

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 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 Gov Pamela Baricuatro told The Associated Press by telephone.

(AP)

Philippine officials said Thursday the death toll from widespread flooding and devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the country’s central region has risen to at least 114 with 127 people reported missing, many of them in a hard-hit province still recovering from a deadly earthquake.

Most of the deaths were reported in the central province of Cebu, which was pummeled 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.

(AP)

Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the emergency declaration would enable quicker disbursement of disaster funds and help prevent food hoarding and price spikes as recovery work gets underway. Officials said clearing operations are essential both to locate the 127 missing people and to ensure relief reaches cut-off areas. “The challenge now is debris clearing… These need to be cleared immediately,” said Raffy Alejandro, a senior civil defence official, according to Reuters.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a state of emergency on Thursday after Typhoon Kalmaegi left at least 241 people dead and missing in central provinces in the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country this year.

Kalmaegi left at least 114 people dead, mostly from drowning in flash floods, and 127 missing, many in the hard-hit central province of Cebu, before the tropical cyclone blew out of the archipelago on Wednesday into the South China Sea. The typhoon's onslaught, which affected nearly 2 million people, displaced more than 560,000 villagers, including nearly 450,000 who were evacuated to emergency shelters.

Marcos's emergency declaration, made during a meeting with disaster-response officials to assess the typhoon's aftermath, would allow the government to disburse emergency funds faster and prevent food hoarding and overpricing.

(AP)