Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 66 people in the Philippines with dozens more missing, an official said on Wednesday, as the country braces for a new storm.
The deadliest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year also displaced more than half a million people. It pounded central provinces, particularly Cebu, which reported the most casualties as widespread flooding submerged homes and trapped residents on rooftops.
Many of the fatalities were hit by falling trees and debris or swept away by floods, according to disaster response officials. A Philippine Air Force chopper deployed to aid typhoon response crashed, killing six crew aboard, the military said.
Kalmaegi, locally called Tino, is now packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour and gustiness of up to 180 kilometers per hour, according to . The second-highest alert in a five-level typhoon warning system remains up in parts of Palawan province near the South China Sea.
Apart from the 66 deaths, 26 people are still missing, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, told ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday. Kalmaegi dumped a month’s worth of rain in the Cebu area, he said.
The typhoon is poised to exit the Philippines early Thursday, before , which is still reeling from the massive flooding that killed dozens, according to weather forecasters. A new tropical depression is projected to soon enter the Philippines and may reach category on Nov. 8, Pagasa said, warning that “life-threatening stormy conditions” may occur over the main Luzon island early next week.
Kalmaegi, the 20th storm to strike the Philippines this year, is putting a spotlight on the unfolding in flood-control projects worth billions of pesos that has triggered public outrage. The nation is battered by around 20 cyclones a year, making it one of the world’s disaster-prone nations.
In Cebu province, which is still recovering from a recent earthquake that killed dozens, its governor, Pamela Baricuatro, has appealed for help. “26 billion (pesos) of flood control funds for Cebu yet we are flooded to the max,” she said in a Facebook post.
Photograph: Damaged houses after Typhoon Kalmaegi in Talisay, Cebu province, the Philippines on Nov. 5, 2025. Photo credit: Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images
Related:
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Chubb Group Vice Chair Lupica to Retire at 2025 End 
Jamaica to Get Record $70.8M Parametric Payout for Hurricane Melissa 
Black Vultures Spreading North, Attacking and Killing Cattle 
Hackers and Crime Rings Are Teaming Up to Steal Cargo, Cyber Firm Says 
