Typhoon Kalmaegi: Over 100 killed as deadly floods hit Philippines

Thursday, November 6, 2025 - The d3ath toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines has climbed to 114, with residents in the hardest-hit province of Cebu facing homes reduced to rubble, streets choked with debris, and lives upended by widespread flooding.

The countries dis@ster agency on Wednesday, November 5 also reported 26 people missing and several others injured.

In Talisay city, survivors sifted through the destruction. Among them was Eilene Oken, 38, who found her home completely destroyed. “We worked and saved for this for years, then in an instant, it was all gone,” she said, though she remains grateful that her family was unharmed.

The catastrophic flooding, described as unprecedented in recent memory for highly urbanized areas, swept away cars, trucks, and even massive shipping containers.

Among the fatalities were six military personnel whose helicopter crashed on the island of Mindanao during a humanitarian mission to provinces battered by the storm. The devastation from Kalmaegi, locally named Tino, is particularly severe as it comes just over a month after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck northern Cebu, killing dozens and displacing thousands.

Kalmaegi, the 20th storm to hit the Philippines this year, slightly weakened after making landfall early Tuesday but is forecast to regain strength while crossing the South China Sea. The state weather agency PAGASA estimated the storm was blowing away from Palawan province with sustained winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph) and gusts up to 180 kph (112 mph).

More than 200,000 people were evacuated across the Visayas region, including parts of southern Luzon and northern Mindanao, ahead of the storm that submerged homes and caused widespread power outages and intermittent telecommunications services.

Authorities had warned of a high risk of "life-threatening and damaging storm surges" that could reach more than 3 meters high along coastal communities. Over 180 flights were cancelled.

The typhoon is now heading toward Vietnam, where preparations are underway ahead of its expected landfall on Friday in the central regions. The Vietnamese government said it was preparing for the worst-case scenario, as the central regions have already suffered heavy floods in the past week that killed at least 40 people and left six others missing. 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered ministries and local authorities to implement the highest-level response measures to protect lives and minimize damage from the "very strong typhoon."