The death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines climbed to 188 on Friday, with 135 people still missing and nearly 400,000 displaced, as the powerful storm exited the country and weakened over Vietnam.
Known locally as Tino, the typhoon has left widespread destruction across the central and southern regions of the Philippines after making landfall eight times before leaving the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Thursday.
According to the Office of Civil Defence (OCD), at least 96 people were injured, and more than 9,500 homes were damaged, including 264 that were completely destroyed.
Cebu City in Central Visayas was the hardest-hit area, accounting for 139 of the confirmed deaths. Additional fatalities were reported in several provinces, including Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Capiz, Southern Leyte, Antique, Iloilo, Guimaras, Bohol, and Leyte.
Marcos declares a state of calamity
Officials said that around 2.3 million people were affected by the storm nationwide, with nearly 398,000 still sheltering in evacuation centres.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national calamity in response to the devastation and in anticipation of another approaching storm, Super Typhoon Fung-wong (Uwan), expected to hit the country over the weekend.
Marcos visited the worst-hit areas in Cebu and Negros on Friday to oversee relief efforts.
He distributed family food packs, health and hygiene kits, and sleeping mats provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which also organised hot meals for evacuees.
Kalmaegi’s destructive impact comes less than six weeks after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck Cebu on September 30, killing dozens and displacing thousands, further compounding the Visayas region’s humanitarian crisis.
Storm weakens in Vietnam but brings deadly flooding
After crossing the South China Sea, Kalmaegi made landfall late on Thursday in Vietnam’s central provinces, killing at least five people and injuring seven in Dak Lak, according to the Vietnam News website.
The storm tore roofs off homes, uprooted trees and power poles, flooded major roads, and caused large-scale blackouts, the state-run Vietnam News Agency reported. Twelve houses were completely destroyed, and over 500 sustained partial damage.
Authorities said more than 9,000 people were evacuated from at-risk areas before the storm weakened into a tropical depression by Friday morning.
In neighbouring Thailand, the National Water Command Center warned that the remnants of Kalmaegi could bring heavy to very heavy rainfall starting Saturday, particularly across the country’s northeastern provinces, including Ubon Ratchathani, Sisaket, Surin, and Buriram.
