No fewer than 140 people have been killed and about 127 missing after a devastating flooding hit the central Philippines with the storm headed towards Vietnam, officials’ figures showed.
According to the disaster database EM-DAT, the typhoon is so far the globe’s deadliest of 2025.
Typhoon Trami, also in the Philippines, sat atop last year’s list with 191 people dead.
Floodwaters described as unprecedented rushed through Cebu province’s towns and cities this week, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and even massive shipping containers.
The national civil defence office on Thursday confirmed 114 deaths, though that tally did not include an additional 28 recorded by Cebu provincial authorities.
In Liloan, a town near Cebu City where 35 bodies have been recovered, AFP reporters saw cars piled atop each other by floodwaters and roofs torn off buildings as residents attempted to dig out of the mud.
Christine Aton’s sister Michelle, who has a disability, was among Liloan’s victims, trapped in her bedroom as the floodwaters rose inside their house.
“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 said.
“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.”
Chyros Roa, a 42-year-old father of two, said his family was saved by his dog’s barking when water rushed into their home in the early hours, giving them just enough time to reach their roof.
“The current was really strong. We tried to call for rescue but no one came. We were told the rescuers were swept away by the current,” he said.
President Ferdinand Marcos declared a “state of national calamity”, authorising the government to release funding for aid and impose price ceilings on basic necessities.
State weather service meteorologist Benison Estareja told AFP the rains along Kalmaegi’s path were 1.5 times the amount that would typically fall in Cebu for a full November, saying it was something that happened “once every 20 years”.
The “highly urbanised” nature of the most-affected communities around Cebu City had made it even deadlier, he added.
Vergara, 53, adding that everything in his small shop in Mandaue had been lost when a nearby river overflowed.
“Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.”
In a radio interview, provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro called the situation “unprecedented”.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning heavier rainfall.
The typhoon is forecast to make landfall in central Vietnam late Thursday, bringing waves as high as eight metres (26 feet) and powerful storm surges, according to the national weather bureau.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha urged local authorities to treat Kalmaegi as “urgent and dangerous”, calling it “a very abnormal” storm in a statement Wednesday.
Authorities have ordered thousands to evacuate from coastal communities, and in Quy Nhon city — just south of where Kalmaegi is forecast to make landfall — an AFP reporter saw officials knocking on doors Thursday warning people to flee.
Ten typhoons or tropical storms usually affect Vietnam, directly or offshore, in a given year, but Typhoon Kalmaegi is set to be the 13th of 2025.
AFP
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