MANILA (dpa): At least seven people were killed and over 100,000 residents displaced in floods and other accidents caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines, local officials and the national disaster agency said on Tuesday.
Kalmaegi was packing maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 195 km/h, the weather bureau said in its latest advisory. It made two landfalls in the provinces of Southern Leyte, at 12 am (1600 GMT on Monday) and Cebu at 5:10 am.
The fatalities were an elderly person who drowned in floods in Southern Leyte province, an infant whose body was found in floods in Cebu City, and a 52-year-old man who was pinned by a falling coconut tree in Bohol province, local officials and the national disaster agency said.
Vehicles lie piled on after flooding caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Cebu City, central Philippines, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. -- AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez
One person was also reported missing after being swept 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 province, 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 are 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