Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves 114 dead, 127 missing in Philippines, many in
province recovering from quake
[November 06, 2025]
By JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials said Thursday the death
toll from widespread flooding and devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi
in the country’s central region has risen to at least 114 with 127
people reported missing, many of them in a hard-hit province still
recovering from a deadly earthquake.
Most of the deaths were reported in the central province of Cebu, which
was pummeled by Kalmaegi on Tuesday, setting off flash floods and
causing a river and other waterways to overflow, said Bernardo Rafaelito
Alejandro IV, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.
Kalmaegi moved away from western Palawan province into the South China
Sea before noon Wednesday and was barreling toward Vietnam, according to
forecasters.
Among the dead were six people who were killed when a Philippine air
force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on
Tuesday. The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian help to
provinces battered by Kalmaegi, the military said. It did not give the
cause of the crash.
Central province hit hardest by the storm
Provincial officials said Kalmaegi set off flash floods and caused a
river and other waterways to swell. The resulting flooding engulfed
residential communities, forcing residents to climb on their roofs,
where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the floodwaters rose,
officials said.
At least 71 people died in Cebu, mostly due to drownings, 65 others were
reported missing and 69 injured, the Office of Civil Defense said.
It added that 62 others were reported missing in the central province of
Negros Occidental, which is located near Cebu.
“We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are
really some unexpected things like flash floods,” Cebu Gov. Pamela
Baricuatro told The Associated Press by telephone.
Caloy Ramirez, a volunteer rescuer, said the massive flooding set off by
the typhoon turned an upscale riverside residential community in Cebu
city on Tuesday into an unrecognizable scene of tumbled SUVs and houses
in disarray.
Residents said floodwater engulfed the first floors of their houses in
just a few minutes, sending them scrambling to upper floors or roofs in
panic.
“We always expect the worst and what I saw yesterday was the worst,”
Ramirez told The AP. He described how the faces of desperate residents
would light up when they realized they were being rescued.
Concerns grow over flood control projects
The problems may have been made worse by years of quarrying that caused
clogging of nearby rivers, which overflowed, and substandard flood
control projects in Cebu province, Baricuatro said.
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Residents clean up outside their homes after Typhoon Kalmaegi caused
devastation in communities at Talisay City, Cebu province, central
Philippines, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacqueline
Hernandez)
A corruption scandal involving substandard or non-existent flood
control projects across the Philippines has sparked public outrage
and street protests in recent months.
Cebu, a bustling province of more than 2.4 million people, declared
a state of calamity to allow authorities to disburse emergency funds
more rapidly.
Cebu was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Sept.
30 that left at least 79 people dead and displaced thousands when
houses collapsed or were severely damaged.
Thousands of northern Cebu residents who were displaced by the
earthquake were moved to sturdier evacuation shelters from flimsy
tents before the typhoon struck, Baricuatro said. Northern towns
devastated by the earthquake were mostly not hit by floods generated
by Kalmaegi, she added.
Kalmaegi heads toward Vietnam and Thailand
Before Kalmaegi’s landfall, officials said more than 387,000 people
had evacuated to safer ground in eastern and central Philippine
provinces.
Ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing out to
increasingly rough seas, stranding more than 3,500 passengers and
cargo truck drivers in nearly 100 seaports, the coast guard said. At
least 186 domestic flights were canceled.
The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each
year. The country also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than
a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most
disaster-prone countries.
Central Vietnam, still reeling from days of record rain that
triggered flash floods and landslides, was bracing for more pounding
rain as Kalmaegi nears.
Fishing boats returned to shore while local authorities readied
evacuation plans, secured shelters and stockpiled food, state media
reported.
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Associated Press journalists Aniruddha Ghosal in Hanoi, Vietnam, and
Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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