MANILA: At least 66 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes in the central Philippines after Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally named Tino, ripped through the archipelago over the past two days, officials confirmed today.
Though the typhoon has weakened since making multiple landfalls yesterday, it continues to bring sustained winds of up to 130 km/h as it moves away from the western province of Palawan and into the South China Sea.
The country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the central province of Cebu bore the brunt of the storm’s devastation, accounting for the vast majority of the casualties.
The NDRRMC estimated that forty-nine of the reported fatalities were from Cebu, with most deaths attributed to widespread flooding, fallen debris, and landslides triggered by torrential rains.
Widespread flash flooding inundated residential areas, turning towns into scenes of chaos where cars were swept away and residents were trapped on their rooftops, desperately awaiting rescue.
The total death toll also includes six Philippine Air Force personnel whose helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday while on a mission to assist with relief efforts in storm-battered regions. The NDRRMC also noted that at least 26 individuals are currently reported missing across the affected areas.
An estimated 706,000 people have been affected by the typhoon, with around 348,000 individuals seeking shelter in evacuation centres. The local government of Cebu, a bustling hub still recovering from a recent deadly earthquake, has declared a state of calamity.