Toppling tragedy: Cars being piled up after heavy flooding brought on by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Bacayan, Cebu City. — Reuters
The death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi here has climbed past 90 as the devastating impact on hard-hit Cebu province became clearer after the worst flooding in recent memory.
Floodwaters described as unprecedented had rushed through the province’s towns and cities a day earlier, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and even massive shipping containers.
Yesterday, Cebu spokesman Rhon Ramos said that 35 bodies had been recovered from flooded areas of Liloan, a town that is part of provincial capital Cebu City’s metro area.
The grim news brought the toll for Cebu to 76.
Earlier in the day, national civil defence deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro confirmed at least 17 deaths in other provinces.
“It was the major cities that got hit (with floods), highly urbanised areas,” Alejandro said in an interview with local radio, adding that 26 people remained missing.
AFP reporters yesterday morning spoke with residents as they cleaned up streets that a day before had been rivers.
“The flood here yesterday was really severe,” Reynaldo Vergara, 53, said, adding that everything in his small shop had been washed away. “The river overflowed. That’s where the water came from.”
“Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn’t even step outside ... nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.”
In the 24 hours before Kalmaegi’s landfall, the area around Cebu City was deluged with 18.3cm of rain, well over its 13.1cm monthly average, weather specialist Charmagne Varilla said.
On Tuesday, provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro called the situation “unprecedented”.
Weight of water: A resident walking along damaged houses in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Talisay, in the province of Cebu.
“We were expecting the winds to be the dangerous part, but the water is what’s truly putting our people at risk,” she said.
“The floodwaters are just devastating.”
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning heavier rainfall.
In total, nearly 400,000 people were pre-emptively moved from the typhoon’s path.
The Philippine military confirmed on Tuesday that a helicopter, one of four deployed to assist typhoon relief efforts, had crashed on northern Mindanao island.
The Super Huey helicopter went down while en route to the coastal city of Butuan “in support of relief operations” related to the powerful storm, Eastern Mindanao Command said in a statement.
Hours later, air force spokeswoman Colonel Maria Christina Basco said the remains of six people had been recovered by troops.
Resident Eusebio Cuyos sweeping mud out of his home in Bacayan, Cebu City. — AFP/Reuters
“We’re waiting to confirm the identities via forensics in order to ascertain their identities,” she told reporters, saying two pilots and four crew members were on board.
As of 11am yesterday, Kalmaegi was moving westwards towards the tourist hotspots of Palawan, with winds of 130kph and gusts of 180kph.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking disaster-prone areas where millions live in poverty.
With Kalmaegi, the archipelagic country has already reached that average, weather specialist Varilla said, adding at least “three to five more” storms could be expected by December’s end.
The Philippines was hit by two major storms in September, including Super Typhoon Ragasa, which tore the roofs off buildings on its way to killing 14 people in nearby Taiwan. — AFP
