Nov. 5 (UPI) — The death toll in the Philippines rose to at least 85 after Typhoon Kalmaegi, known locally as Tino, swept through the central Philippines, local officials said Wednesday.
Most of the deaths were on the island of Cebu, where at least 49 of the people were killed, officials said. There were about 75 people missing and 17 injured, according to the BBC. More than 400,000 people have been displaced by the storm, the Philippines Star reported.
Six of those who died were those on a rescue helicopter crew that crashed on Mindanao island, south of Cebu.
The typhoon has become weaker since landing Tuesday, though as of Wednesday afternoon, it had maximum sustained winds of 92 mph, the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane, The New York Times reported. It moved over the Visayas islands and was centered in the South China Sea Wednesday and by Thursday evening was forecast to make landfall in Vietnam. Friday will see the storm pass over Laos before situating itself over Thailand on Saturday.
In Mandaue city, Jen-al Moira Servas told the BBC that floodwaters rose waist-deep inside her home. She and her family evacuated.
Residents affected by typhoon Kalmaegi line up for food packs at a school used as an evacuation center in Bacayan, Cebu City, Philippines, Wednesday. There are 85 people dead and 400,000 displaced. Photo by Juanito Espinosa/EPA
“Right now, the rain has completely stopped and the sun is out, but our houses are still filled with mud, and everything inside is in shambles,” she said. “We don’t even know where to start cleaning. I can’t even look at it without crying.”
Volunteer rescuer Carlos Jose Lañas, 19, told the BBC that the flooding caught them off guard.
“This is the worst flood I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “Almost all the rivers here in Cebu overflowed. Even emergency responders did not expect this kind of scenario. The rescue operation was too overwhelming for the emergency responders around Cebu because there were a lot of people asking for help.”
According to the BBC, Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro posted on Facebook: “We were expecting the winds to be the dangerous part, but … the water is what’s truly putting our people at risk.
“The floodwaters are just devastating.”
Baricuatro declared a state of calamity in Cebu on Tuesday.
The Philippines gets hit by about 20 storms and typhoons each year.
