(Nov 4): Typhoon Kalmaegi killed 21 people and displaced nearly 400,000 more as it dumped heavy rains and caused widespread flooding in central Philippines, according to officials and local media.
Many of the fatalities were in Cebu province where residents were trapped on rooftops as floodwaters rose, images released by local media on Tuesday showed. At least 12 residents of a village in Cebu City died after flash floods swept through mountain communities, Cebu Daily News reported, citing mayor Nestor Archival.
The typhoon, locally known as Tino, slightly weakened as it pummelled the central provinces, packing maximum winds of 130km (81 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 180km per hour, according to weather bureau Pagasa. It’s on course to emerge over the South China Sea on Wednesday morning, and will likely track central Vietnam.
The typhoon first hit land in Leyte province before pounding Cebu, which is still reeling from a powerful earthquake that killed dozens over a month ago. As many as 60 houses in a village in Cebu were swept away by the flood, the mayor was quoted as saying in a newspaper report, as residents ignored warnings to evacuate.
Around 387,000 persons were preemptively evacuated across many regions, Office of Civil Defence spokesperson Junie Castillo said in a briefing. There’s a high risk of “life-threatening and damaging storm surge” with peak heights of more than 3 metres (10 feet) within the next 24 hours over low-lying or coastal communities, Pagasa said.
More than 300 flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to the typhoon, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, adding that 20 more scheduled for Wednesday have been scrapped.
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Kalmaegi is the 20th tropical cyclone this year to hit the Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.
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