At least 26 people died during Typhoon Kalmaegi’s passage through the Philippines, where much of the country’s central region was flooded, the Philippine Civil Protection declared this Tuesday. The previous report from Philippine authorities pointed to two deaths.
“According to the information we have, the majority [das pessoas] drowned”Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy director of the Philippine Department of Civil Protection, told AFP news agency by telephone.
Rafaelito Alejandro added that in the province of Cebu (center), where several cities were submerged, 21 people died.
Almost 400,000 people were evacuated from their homes to escape flooding caused by heavy rains and intense winds from Typhoon Kalmaegi, which swept the Philippines this Tuesday.
The typhoon hit the coast from the east of the archipelago on Monday night, targeting the Dinagat islands, in the Visayas archipelago (east), with wind gusts that reached 205 kilometers per hour, according to the meteorological service.
Cars floated in the flooded streets of the city of Cebu, with around one million inhabitants, according to images obtained by AFP.
Hundreds of people who lived in tents in camps set up after the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the island at the end of September were also “forcibly removed for their own safety”said Rhon Ramos, Cebu island information officer.
Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang said many residents were trapped on rooftops by floodwaters in the coastal town of Liloan in Cebu province.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned that heavy rains could trigger volcanic mudflows on Mount Kanlaon, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes, which has been emitting plumes of ash and steam in recent months, on the island of Negros (center).
A Philippine Air Force helicopter, with five soldiers on board, crashed on Monday near the city of Loreto, in the province of Agusan del Sur, in the south of the country, the Eastern Mindanao Military Command said in a statement this Tuesday.
According to the note, the Super Huey helicopter had been sent to provide aid to those affected by the typhoon. Military authorities have not yet provided other details about the accident, but stated that efforts were being made to locate the soldiers on board the device.
The Philippines is hit by around 20 typhoons and tropical storms per year, mainly during the rainy season, which generally runs from June to November or December.