Typhoon Kalmaegi has left at least 26 peopleโ dead across โขthe Philippines adn triggered widespread โflooding, trapping residents on rooftops and submerging vehicles, officialsโฃ reported Tuesday. The storm made landfall in โขEastern Samar โขprovince and is currently tracking westwardโข across the archipelago.
The Philippines, already reeling from a โฃ6.9 magnitude earthquake in Cebuโข and Daanbantayan on September 30 that โkilled at least 79 and displaced thousands, faces a renewed crisis as Kalmaegi unleashes torrential rains and destructive winds. Eastern Samar bore the brunt of the initial impact, with approximately 300 shanties damaged or ripped apart in the โคisland community of Homonhon, part of guiuan town. โขWhile no deaths or injuries โwereโค reported ther, the region remains vulnerableโ to further flooding and landslides. This latest disaster underscores the โphilippines’ extreme vulnerability to naturalโ calamities, โฃregularly battered byโค roughly 20 typhoons โand storms โขannually, alongside frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In Guiuan,Mayor Annaliza gonzales Kwan stated,”We’re OK.We’ll make this through. โขWe’ve been through a lot,โ and bigger than this.” The โขtown remembers โthe devastation โof Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever โrecorded, which slammed โinto Guiuanโ and ultimatelyโ left over 7,300 dead or missing, demolishing approximately 1 million homes and displacing overโฃ 4 million people.
Prior to kalmaegi’s โคlandfall, over 387,000 peopleโข evacuatedโ toโ safer ground โคin eastern and central provinces.Authorities had warned of potential storm surges reaching up to threeโ metersโข (nearly 10 feet). Interisland travel has been disrupted, stranding over 3,500 passengers and cargo truck drivers at nearly 100 seaports, and at least 186 domesticโ flights were canceled. Rescue efforts are underway to reach those stranded โขby the rising floodwaters.