At least 52 people have been killed and 13 remain missing after Typhoon Kalmaegi triggered massive flooding across the central Philippines, mostly in Cebu province, which is still recovering from a recent deadly earthquake, officials said on Wednesday.
Six others died in a separate incident when a Philippine Air Force helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur on Tuesday while en route to deliver humanitarian aid to areas ravaged by the storm. The military has yet to disclose the cause of the crash.
Kalmaegi was last tracked early Wednesday over the coastal waters of Linapacan in Palawan province, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gusts up to 150 kph. It was expected to move into the South China Sea later in the day.
Most of the fatalities were reported in Cebu, where torrential rain caused rivers to overflow and inundated neighborhoods, forcing residents to seek refuge on rooftops. Rescue efforts were delayed until floodwaters receded, according to the Philippine Red Cross.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro told the Associated Press that the flooding may have been worsened by years of quarrying, river siltation, and poor flood control infrastructure. She urged an investigation into corruption in flood management projects that have sparked public anger nationwide.
Tropical storm kills seven in the Philippines, thousands displaced
Cebu, home to 2.4 million people, has been placed under a state of calamity to expedite relief efforts. The province was still reeling from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 30 that killed 79 people and displaced thousands.
Elsewhere, a villager drowned in Southern Leyte and another was killed by a falling tree in Bohol province. Ahead of the typhoon’s landfall, more than 387,000 people had been evacuated, while rough seas stranded over 3,500 passengers and led to the cancellation of at least 186 domestic flights.
The Philippines experiences about 20 typhoons annually, along with frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.
Source: AP