Manila, Nov 5: Typhoon Kalmaegi has killed at least 26 people in the Philippines, most of them in flooding triggered by the storm as it swept across the country’s central regions on Tuesday, according to disaster response officials.The powerful typhoon brought torrential rains that inundated communities, trapped residents on rooftops, and submerged vehicles in several provinces.
In a separate incident, a Philippine Air Force Super Huey helicopter with five personnel on board crashed in southern Agusan del Sur province while en route to deliver humanitarian aid to storm-hit areas.
The chopper went down near Loreto town, and search operations were underway to locate the crew. The military did not immediately release information on their condition or the cause of the crash.
Kalmaegi was last tracked over the coastal waters of Jordan town in Guimaras province with sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph) and gusts up to 180 kph (112 mph).
It was forecast to move toward the South China Sea late Tuesday or early Wednesday after crossing the western province of Palawan.
Authorities reported that many of the deaths occurred in the central province of Cebu and nearby islands.
Among the victims were an elderly villager who drowned in Southern Leyte and a man struck by a fallen tree in Bohol.
Power outages were reported across several provinces as the typhoon made landfall around midnight in eastern towns.
Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the Philippine Red Cross, said rescue efforts were hampered by debris and floodwaters, leaving many people stranded on rooftops in coastal areas such as Liloan in Cebu.
Flooded streets were littered with floating cars, and emergency teams were waiting for water levels to recede before conducting rescues.
The province was already reeling from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake on September 30 that killed at least 79 people and displaced thousands.
In Eastern Samar, Kalmaegi’s strong winds damaged around 300 houses on the island of Homonhon but caused no casualties, local officials said.