MANILA (dpa): Twenty-six people were reported killed and about 387,000 residents displaced in floods and other accidents caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines, civil defence officials said on Tuesday.
Kalmaegi slightly weakened as it crossed the central Philippines, but maintained typhoon strength, the weather bureau said. It has maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 180 km/h, the weather bureau said in its latest advisory.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said it recorded reports of 26 deaths from the typhoon, which first hit the provinces of Southern Leyte and Cebu before making three more landfalls during the day.
Twenty-two of the fatalities were from Cebu, which was badly hit by the typhoon. Most of the victims drowned in floods, which submerged a wide area of the province, according to OCD spokesman Junie Castillo.
Four more deaths were reported from other areas, including an elderly person who drowned in floods in Southern Leyte and a 52-year-old man who was pinned down by a falling coconut tree in Bohol province, Castillo said.
One person was also reported missing after being swept away by floods in Southern Leyte, according to Danilo Atienza of the provincial disaster risk agency.
Local authorities said that the death toll could rise.
The typhoon toppled power and communication lines in some of the affected areas in the central and eastern Philippines, where residents had to climb up on their roofs as floodwaters surged following overnight rains.
In Cebu, the floods swept vehicles on top of each other and on some houses and walls in the submerged areas, according to local officials.
"Everything here in Cebu City is submerged, we have never experienced this before," Joel Garganera, a city councillor, said in a radio interview. "This is different. Many people are on their rooftops. Their cars were like tiles piled on top of each other."
More than 130 domestic flights were cancelled due to the bad weather, while at least 9,276 people were stranded after the coastguard suspended sea travel in the affected areas.
The weather bureau said Kalmaegi was moving westward at 25 km/h and was expected to exit the Philippines by Wednesday or Thursday. It was expected to weaken as it crossed the central Philippines, but it was expected to remain at typhoon level.
The Philippines is hit by an average of about 20 typhoons each year. The particularly severe storm Haiyan claimed more than 6,300 lives in November 2013.
According to the forecasts, Kalmaegi is likely to reach Vietnam by the end of the week. Heavy rainfall in recent days has already caused dramatic flooding with dozens of fatalities in the South-East Asian country.
The floodwaters mainly affected the centre of the country, particularly the region around the popular tourist destinations of Hue, Hoi An and Da Nang.
In Thailand, where there have been unusually heavy rains for the season for days, Kalmaegi could bring further heavy rain between Friday and Sunday, according to media reports citing the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD).
Northern regions, especially around the popular tourist city of Chiang Rai, could be affected. - dpa
