Philippines typhoon kills at least three people and devastates island
At least three people died and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes as the typhoon ravaged the central Philippines, the country’s disaster agency said.
Typhoon Kalmaegi flooded large areas, including entire towns on the island of Cebu.
Videos show people taking shelter on rooftops and cars and shipping containers drifting through the streets.
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) said a military helicopter deployed to assist relief efforts crashed on the northern island of Mindanao. It is not yet clear whether there are any survivors from the accident.
The typhoon, locally called Tino, has weakened since making landfall early Tuesday but continued to bring winds of more than 130 km/h.
It is expected to move through the South China Sea via the Visayas islands region on Wednesday.
“The situation in Cebu is truly unprecedented,” state governor Pamela Baricuatro said in a Facebook post.
“We expected the winds to be the dangerous part, but … the water is what really puts our people at risk,” he said.
“Floodwaters are devastating.”
Don del Rosario, 28, was among those who took shelter upstairs as the storm raged in Cebu City.
“I’ve been here 28 years and this is the worst thing we’ve ever experienced,” he told the AFP news agency.
PAF said in a statement that a rescue helicopter crashed near Agusan del Sur on the island of Mindanao.
“The loss of communication with the helicopter led to the immediate launch of a search and rescue operation,” he said, adding that further details would be released “as confirmed”.
In total, about 400,000 people were moved out of the typhoon’s path, Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy director of the Office of Civil Protection, said at a news conference.
There are an average of 20 storms and typhoons in the Philippines every year.
It’s been almost a month since back-to-back typhoons, the latest one, killed more than a dozen people and damaged infrastructure and crops.
Super Typhoon Ragasa, locally known as Nando, occurred in late September and was followed by Typhoon Bualoi, locally known as Opong.
The exceptionally wet monsoon season in previous months had caused widespread flooding. Fueling anger and protests Due to incomplete and substandard flood control systems attributed to corruption.
On September 30, dozens of people died and were injured A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 occurred in the central part of the Philippines, with Cebu bearing the brunt of the damage.
