Typhoon Kalmaegi has made landfall north of Gia Lai province in central Vietnam, lashing the region with fierce winds and torrential rain.
The storm hit as the central provinces were already reeling from days of flooding caused by record-breaking rainfall. Forecasters warned that Kalmaegi could dump more than 600 millimetres of additional rain in some areas, raising fears of deadly landslides and flash floods.
Power outages were reported in several provinces, while trees were uprooted and roofs torn off homes. Authorities also warned of flooding risks in major cities, including Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.
Typhoon Kalmaegi headed toward Vietnam, with heavy rains battering the coast and strong winds uprooting trees ahead of expected landfall late on Thursday, forecasters said. Earlier, the typhoon left more than 100 people dead and dozens missing in the Philippines.
An unusually strong storm for the region in November, it was packing sustained wins of about 183 kph with gusts reaching up to 220 kph over the South China Sea as it approached Vietnam, said forecasters.
It was likely to make landfall between Quang Ngai and Gia Lai provinces in central Vietnam, they said.
Vietnam’s central provinces are already reeling from floods due to record-breaking rains. Kalmaegi is forecast to dump more than 600 millimetres of rain in some areas.
In coastal cities like Danang, waves up to 3 metres high battered the coast and strong winds uprooted trees in Dak Lak province. Many homes in Quy Nhon, also a coastal city, were left without power for hours.
The country’s financial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, faces a heightened risk of severe floods. High tides were also expected on the Saigon River, and authorities warned up to 100 millimetres of expected rainfall could inundate low-lying areas.
Across the central Philippines, Kalmaegi killed at least 114 people and left 127 missing in what was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country this year. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency on Thursday.
After sowing death and destruction in the Philippines, especially in the hard-hit central province of Cebu, the tropical cyclone blew out of the archipelago on Wednesday into the South China Sea.
In Cebu’s town of Liloan, Krizza Espra went to the mortuary on Thursday, where the bodies of her husband and three children, killed when their roof collapsed, were held ahead of a wake. She said four other of her family members — including her mother and aunt — remain missing. “I hope someone can help speed up the search,” she said.
Philippines declares state of emergency
MANILA, NOV 6 (AP): Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a state of emergency on Thursday after Typhoon Kalmaegi left at least 114 people dead and hundreds missing in central provinces in the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country this year. The deaths were mostly from drowning in flash floods, and 127 people were still missing, many in the hard-hit central province of Cebu.
The typhoon’s onslaught affected nearly 2 million people and displaced more than 560,000 villagers, including nearly 450,000 who were evacuated to emergency shelters, the Office of Civil Defence said.
Marcos’s “state of national calamity” declaration, made during a meeting with disaster-response officials to assess the typhoon’s aftermath, would allow the government to disburse emergency funds faster and prevent food hoarding and overpricing.
While still dealing with the deadly and disastrous impact of Kalmaegi in the country’s central region, disaster-response officials warned that another tropical cyclone from the Pacific could strengthen into a super typhoon and batter the northern Philippines early next week.
Among the dead attributed by officials to Kalmaegi 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 the typhoon, the military said. It did not give the cause of the crash.
Kalmaegi set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell in Cebu province. The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing residents to climb on their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the floodwaters rose, provincial officials said.
At least 71 people died in Cebu, mostly due to drownings, while 65 others were reported missing and 69 injured, the Office of Civil Defence 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.
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.
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 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.
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 cancelled.
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.