Hanoi (VNA) - The death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi across the central Philippines has risen to at least 114, with 127 people still missing. The storm triggered widespread flooding and landslides in provinces still reeling from a recent earthquake.
Deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defence of the Philippines Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the majority of the fatalities were recorded in Cebu province which suffered severe flash floods after rivers and waterways overflowed when Kalmaegi made landfall on November 4.
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. At least 71 people died in Cebu, mostly due to drownings, 65 others were reported missing and 69 injured while 62 others were reported missing in the central province of Negros Occidental, which is located near Cebu.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said the province did everything they can for the typhoon but there are really some unexpected things like flash floods. 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 the locality.
Cebu was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on September 30 that left at least 79 people dead and displaced thousands when houses collapsed or were severely damaged.
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./.
