Typhoon Kalmaegi Strikes Central Philippines, Leaves Two Dead Amid Floods

Typhoon Kalmaegi ripped through the central Philippines overnight, claiming at least two lives and unleashing flash floods that forced terrified residents onto rooftops as cars bobbed like toys in raging waters. The fast-moving storm made landfall around midnight in Silago, Southern Leyte, packing sustained winds of 140 kph and gusts up to 195 kph before barreling over Bacolod by noon. Moving westward at 25 kph, it submerged entire villages in Cebu and Negros, turning streets into rivers and stranding over 150,000 evacuees in emergency shelters.

In Southern Leyte, an elderly villager drowned in surging floodwaters amid a province-wide blackout, while in Bohol, another life was lost to a toppled tree under howling winds. Philippine Red Cross chief Gwendolyn Pang described harrowing scenes in Liloan, Cebu, where families clung to roofs as water rose to neck level in Mandaue, with floating vehicles blocking rescue paths. “We’re getting desperate calls, but debris and submerged cars make it impossible to reach them,” she said, urging patience until waters recede.

Eastern Samar bore the initial brunt, with fierce gusts shredding roofs off nearly 300 shanties on Homonhon Island in Guiuan—infamous as Typhoon Haiyan’s 2013 ground zero that killed over 7,300. Mayor Annaliza Gonzales Kwan remained defiant: “No flooding here, just wind. We’ve survived worse.” Yet the storm’s 600-km wind band battered Cebu still reeling from a deadly September earthquake, while Mount Kanlaon loomed as a volcanic mudflow threat under torrential rain.

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Coast guard grounded all ferries and fishing boats, stranding 3,500 passengers across 100 ports, while 186 flights were scrapped. Authorities had preemptively evacuated eastern provinces, warning of 3-meter storm surges and destructive winds. As Kalmaegi heads toward the South China Sea by Wednesday, central islands brace for more rain-triggered landslides and infrastructure damage in one of the world’s most storm-battered nations.

The 20th typhoon this year underscores the Philippines’ brutal annual gauntlet of 20 storms, earthquakes, and active volcanoes. With Cebu still burying its quake dead and rebuilding homes, Kalmaegi’s fury has stretched rescue teams thin and reignited calls for stronger early-warning systems and climate-resilient shelters to shield the vulnerable archipelago’s poorest communities.

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