Typhoon Kalmaegi has left at least 26 people dead across the Philippines adn triggered widespread flooding, trapping residents on rooftops and submerging vehicles, officials reported Tuesday. The storm made landfall in Eastern Samar province and is currently tracking westward across the archipelago.
The Philippines, already reeling from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Cebu and Daanbantayan on September 30 that killed 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 island community of Homonhon, part of guiuan town. While no deaths or injuries were reported ther, the region remains vulnerable to further flooding and landslides. This latest disaster underscores the philippines’ extreme vulnerability to natural calamities, regularly battered by roughly 20 typhoons and storms annually, alongside frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In Guiuan,Mayor Annaliza gonzales Kwan stated,”We’re OK.We’ll make this through. We’ve been through a lot, and bigger than this.” The town remembers the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, which slammed into Guiuan and ultimately left over 7,300 dead or missing, demolishing approximately 1 million homes and displacing over 4 million people.
Prior to kalmaegi’s landfall, over 387,000 people evacuated to safer ground in eastern and central provinces.Authorities had warned of potential storm surges reaching up to three meters (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 domestic flights were canceled. Rescue efforts are underway to reach those stranded by the rising floodwaters.