At least 85 people have been killed and dozens remain missing after Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the central Philippines, unleashing floods, landslides, and widespread devastation before heading towards Vietnam.
Residents in the central Philippines on Wednesday began scraping mud from streets and homes after Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, tore through the region, killing at least 85 people and leaving dozens missing, according to disaster officials.
Scenes of destruction emerged in the hardest-hit province of Cebu, a major tourist hub, as floodwaters receded, revealing homes reduced to rubble, overturned cars, and entire neighbourhoods buried under mud and debris.
In Cebu City, 58-year-old Marlon Enriquez worked to salvage what was left of his family’s belongings.
“This was the first time that has happened to us. I’ve been living here for almost 16 years, and it was the first time I’ve experienced flooding like this,” he said.
In nearby Talisay City, survivors waded through debris-strewn streets in search of anything left behind. Among them was 38-year-old Eilene Oken, who found her home completely destroyed.
“We worked and saved for this for years, then in an instant, it was all gone,” she said, her voice breaking. Still, she expressed gratitude that her family, including her two daughters, escaped unharmed.
Helicopter crash deaths
Among the 85 fatalities were six military personnel whose helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur, on the island of Mindanao, during a humanitarian mission. The national disaster agency said 75 people remain missing and 17 were injured.
The storm submerged homes and caused widespread flooding and power outages, cutting off access to several towns and forcing the evacuation of more than 200,000 people across the Visayas region, including parts of southern Luzon and northern Mindanao.
Storm expected to gain strength
Kalmaegi, the 20th storm to hit the Philippines this year, has slightly strengthened over the South China Sea as it moves towards Vietnam, where authorities are preparing for its expected landfall on Friday.
In China, officials have warned of a “catastrophic wave process” in the South China Sea and activated a maritime disaster emergency response in Hainan province, state broadcaster CCTV reported. While details were not specified, China claims several island groups in the region — including the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands, which it says are administered by Hainan.
Series of disasters
The devastation from Kalmaegi comes just over a month after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck northern Cebu, killing dozens and displacing thousands. In September, Super Typhoon Ragasa also battered northern Luzon, forcing schools and government offices to shut down amid fierce winds and torrential rain.
The back-to-back disasters have underscored the Philippines’ growing vulnerability to extreme weather events, which scientists warn are intensifying due to climate change.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday instructed senior officials to prepare proposals for potential nuclear weapons testing, following U.S. P...
Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Adminis...
A French court has postponed the trial of a suspect linked to the Louvre jewellery heist in a separate case, citing heavy media scrutiny and concerns ...
Kaja Kallas says Türkiye's ties with the European Union are vital for the bloc, despite ongoing membership talks....
The Azerbaijan University of Languages (AUL) hosted the screening of a documentary by AnewZ dedicated to the Belt and Road Initiative and the rising i...
The death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi that hit the central Philippines on Tuesday has risen to 39 on the island of Cebu, a local government official said.
The Philippines and Canada signed a pact on Sunday for their armed forces to train on each other's soil, boosting defence cooperation to tackle common security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region.
Beijing has called on the Philippines to give up "unrealistic illusions" in the South China Sea, after Manila reaffirmed that Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan Island Group are integral parts of the Philippine archipelago.
The Philippines and China accused each other on 12 October of responsibility for a maritime confrontation near disputed islands in the South China Sea, further escalating tensions in the resource-rich waterway.
Russia said on Monday that its troops had advanced in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a transport and logistics hub that they have been trying to capture for over a year, but Ukraine said its forces were holding on.
At least 37 people have died and five are missing after devastating floods and landslides hit central Vietnam, officials said Monday, as a new typhoon threatens to worsen the disaster.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk has emerged as a critical point in Russia’s campaign to seize the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of Donetsk, and its fate could shape the course of the conflict in the region.
Brussels airport, Belgium's busiest, reopened on Wednesday morning after drone sightings during the previous night had resulted in it being temporarily closed, although some flights remained disrupted, its website said.
Israel’s top military legal officer Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned last week, has been arrested over the leak of a video showing soldiers brutally assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military prison.
The world remains far off track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, according to the 16th edition of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report, released this week.
EU climate ministers will make a last-ditch attempt to pass a new climate change target on Tuesday, in an effort to avoid going to the United Nations COP30 summit in Brazil empty-handed.
Brazil opens three weeks of events linked to the COP30 climate summit, hoping to showcase a world still determined to tackle global warming.
Residents of Hoi An, Vietnam’s UNESCO-listed ancient town, began cleaning up on Saturday as floodwaters receded following days of torrential rain that brought deadly flooding and widespread destruction to the central region.
At least 13 people have been killed and 11 remain missing after record rainfall caused severe flooding across central Vietnam, submerging homes and disrupting transport in the historic cities of Hue and Hoi An.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment