Philippines Faces Catastrophe: Typhoon Kalmaegi Claims 140 Lives

Typhoon Kalmaegi has claimed at least 140 lives in the central Philippines and left another 127 people missing, as the storm barrels towards Vietnam, official figures revealed on Thursday. The typhoon has unleashed catastrophic flooding across the region, particularly in Cebu province, where floodwaters have swept away cars, riverside homes, and even massive shipping containers.

The national civil defence office confirmed 114 deaths, a figure that excludes an additional 28 fatalities recorded by Cebu provincial authorities. In the town of Liloan, near Cebu City, 35 bodies have been recovered from the floodwaters. AFP reporters observed cars piled atop one another and roofs torn from buildings as residents struggled to clear mud and debris.

Christine Aton recounted the harrowing experience of losing her disabled sister, Michelle, in the floods. “We tried to pry open her bedroom door with a kitchen knife and a crowbar but it wouldn’t budge… then the refrigerator started to float,” Aton, 29, told AFP. “I opened a window and my father and I swam out. We were crying because we wanted to save my older sister. But my father told me we couldn’t do anything for her, that all three of us might end up dead.”

On neighbouring Negros Island, at least 30 people died when torrential rain from Kalmaegi triggered volcanic mudflows from the slopes of Mount Kanlaon, burying homes in Canlaon City. Police Lieutenant Stephen Polinar explained that eruptions over the past year had left deposits on the volcano’s upper sections, which were mobilised by the heavy rainfall. The national death toll also includes six crew members of a military helicopter that crashed while conducting relief operations.

Residents across Cebu’s hardest-hit areas were seen attempting to clear streets that had become rivers less than 24 hours earlier. Reynaldo Vergara, 53, from Mandaue, described the scene: “Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn’t even step outside. Everything in my small shop was lost when the nearby river overflowed. Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.”

In Talisay, informal settlements along the riverbank were destroyed, leaving 26-year-old Regie Mallorca to start rebuilding his home with limited resources. “This will take time because I don’t have the money yet. It will take months,” he said, mixing cement and sand on the rubble.

The Cebu City area received 18.3 centimetres (around seven inches) of rain in the 24 hours before Kalmaegi made landfall, well above its usual monthly average of 13.1 centimetres, according to weather specialist Charmagne Varilla. Provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro described the situation as “unprecedented” and “devastating.”

Experts warn that climate change is intensifying tropical storms, with warmer oceans and a more moisture-laden atmosphere allowing typhoons to strengthen rapidly and bring heavier rainfall. Nearly 800,000 people were evacuated from Kalmaegi’s projected path.

As of Thursday morning, Kalmaegi was gaining strength en route to central Vietnam, where fears were mounting that the typhoon could worsen the destruction caused by a week of flooding that has already claimed 47 lives. The storm was reported to have winds of 155 kilometres per hour (96 mph), with gusts reaching 190 kph.

Vietnam’s national weather bureau forecasts that the typhoon will make landfall late Thursday, producing waves up to eight metres (26 feet) high and dangerous storm surges. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha urged local authorities to treat Kalmaegi as “urgent and dangerous,” describing it as “a very abnormal storm.”

Typically, ten typhoons or tropical storms affect Vietnam annually, but Kalmaegi is expected to be the 13th in 2025. The Philippines has already reached its yearly average of 20 storms, with at least three to five more expected before the end of December, according to Varilla.

The continuing devastation underscores the increasing vulnerability of the region to extreme weather events and the urgent need for effective disaster preparedness and climate adaptation strategies.