The death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines has climbed to 114, with 127 people still missing, as the storm that devastated the country’s central regions regained strength while heading toward Vietnam, officials said on Thursday.
In the hardest-hit province of Cebu, residents returned to scenes of ruin. Floodwaters that once swallowed entire streets had receded, exposing flattened homes, overturned vehicles, and debris-strewn neighbourhoods.
In Cebu City, 58-year-old Marlon Enriquez tried 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, 38-year-old Eilene Oken sifted through the wreckage of her home, reduced to splintered wood and twisted metal.
“We worked and saved for this for years, then in an instant, it was all gone,” she said. Still, she expressed gratitude that her family, including her two daughters, escaped unharmed.
Across the region, more than 200,000 people had been evacuated from their homes before the storm struck on Tuesday. Many have now returned to begin the arduous cleanup.
“The challenge now is debris clearing... These need to be cleared immediately, not only to account for the missing who may be among the debris or may have reached safe areas but also to allow relief operations to move forward,” civil defence official Raffy Alejandro told DZBB radio.
Among the dead were six military personnel whose helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur on the island of Mindanao during a humanitarian mission. Another 17 people were injured, the national disaster agency said.
Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, was the 20th storm to hit the Philippines this year, unleashing landslides, flooding, and power outages across the Visayas region and parts of southern Luzon and northern Mindanao.
The destruction followed a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in northern Cebu just over a month ago that killed dozens and displaced thousands.
As Kalmaegi moved over the South China Sea, it strengthened again, heading toward Vietnam. Authorities in Gia Lai province said around 350,000 people were expected to be evacuated from the area by midday Thursday amid warnings of heavy rain, flooding, and damaging winds that could disrupt key coffee-growing areas.
Vietnam’s aviation authorities said operations at eight airports, including Da Nang International Airport, could be affected.
Meanwhile, forecasters in the Philippines are tracking another storm developing east of Mindanao that could intensify into a typhoon early next week — a worrying sign for a nation still reeling from Kalmaegi’s destruction.
French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit China from 3 to 5 December 2025, during which he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping....
Rescuers in Thailand readied drones on Thursday to airdrop food parcels, as receding floodwaters in the south and neighbouring Malaysia brightened hop...
French health experts are warning that the highly pathogenic H5 strain of bird flu, already devastating wild and farm animals, could evolve into a vir...
Netflix crashed on Wednesday for about an hour in the U.S. as it launched season five of "Stranger Things", with the service becoming inaccessible to ...
The European Parliament has approved a non-binding resolution calling for a minimum age of 16 for social media access across the EU, citing rising con...
The combined death toll from Typhoon Fung-wong and Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines has reached 259, with 114 people still reported missing, state media says.
At least two people have died in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Fung-wong battered central and eastern regions, bringing torrential rain and powerful winds that knocked out electricity across much of the Bicol region ahead of its anticipated landfall in northern Luzon.
The Philippines' weather bureau warned of life-threatening storm surges of up to five metres and destructive winds as Typhoon Fung-wong churns toward the country's eastern coast, where it is forecast to intensify into a super typhoon before making landfall on Sunday night.
Typhoon Kalmaegi tore through Southeast Asia this week, killing at least 188 people in the Philippines before striking Vietnam’s central coast, where powerful gusts ripped roofs from homes, toppled trees, and left streets flooded and thousands without power.
Venezuela says it has deployed a range of weapons, including decades-old Russian-made equipment, and plans to mount guerrilla-style resistance in the event of an air or ground assault particularly from the U.S.
A passenger aircraft from Polish carrier LOT veered off a taxiway at Lithuania's Vilnius airport after arriving from Warsaw on Wednesday, halting all traffic, the airport operator said.
A major fire continues to rage at a warehouse in Southall, west London, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky hours after it first broke out.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region erupted on Sunday morning (23 November), covering nearby villages in ash.
At least 36 people have died in a fire that ravaged a residential apartment complex on Wednesday according to John Lee the chief executive of Hong Kong.
Rescuers in Thailand readied drones on Thursday to airdrop food parcels, as receding floodwaters in the south and neighbouring Malaysia brightened hopes for the evacuation of those stranded for days, while cyclone havoc in Indonesia killed at least 28.
Floods and landslides brought about by torrential rain in Indonesia's North Sumatra province have killed at least 28 people by Thursday, with rescue efforts hampered by what an official described as a "total cut-off" of roads and communications.
Cameras from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Saturday (22 November) captured Hawaii's Kilauea volcano spewing flowing lava from its crater in its latest eruption.
COP30 ended in Brazil with a compromise agreement that expands financial support for countries facing the sharpest climate impacts, after tense negotiations stretched beyond the summit’s deadline.
Brazil pushed through a compromise climate deal at COP30 in Belém, boosting funding for developing nations but sidestepping any mention of fossil fuels — the very drivers of global warming.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment