Typhoon Kalmaegi Rampages Across Vietnam, Philippines

As the storm progressed, rescue efforts began in damaged towns and villages in both countries. In Vietnam’s central provinces, people cleared debris and repaired the roofs of their homes.

Jimmy Abatayo, who lost his wife and nine close relatives after the typhoon-induced flood in the central Philippine province of Cebu, was overcome with sadness and guilt as he moved his palm over his wife’s coffin.

“I managed to swim. I told my family to swim, you will be saved, just swim, be brave and keep swimming,” said Abatayo, 53, and then burst into tears. “They didn’t hear what I said because I’ll never see them again.”

Mourning the deaths in the Philippines. 141 people lost their lives in Cebu, most of them due to floods. Villagers gathered on Friday to bid farewell to their dead; these included a basketball gym converted into a funeral hall, where relatives wept in front of a row of white coffins decorated with flowers and small portraits of the deceased.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday. The national emergency declared by was still in effect in the Philippines as the country braced for another potentially powerful storm, Typhoon Fung-wong, known locally as Uwan.

Marcos, who visited Cebu on Friday, said an unusually large amount of rain overwhelmed levees and flood control measures, causing rivers to quickly overflow their banks on Tuesday, submerging nearby settlements as residents scrambled in panic to climb to the upper floors or rooftops of their homes.

Nationwide, at least 204 people were killed and 109 missing in Kalmaegi, and more than half a million people were displaced, the Philippines Civil Defense Office said.

As of Saturday, about 450,000 people had been evacuated to shelters and about 400,000 remained in evacuation centers or relatives’ homes.

The weather bureau said Fung-wong would arrive early next week and predicted it would travel about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) before making landfall in northern Aurora state late Sunday or Monday. It could also potentially affect the densely populated capital Manila.

The death toll in Vietnam State media said five people were killed in Vietnam (three in Dak Lak and two in Gia Lai provinces), while three people were missing in Quang Ngai.

Fifty-two houses collapsed and approximately 2,600 were damaged or had their roofs blown off; more than 2,400 of these were in Gia Lai alone. The storm also caused multiple power grid failures and toppled hundreds of power poles, knocking out power to more than 1.6 million homes. Power was restored in most areas, but about 500,000 households remained without power, officials said Saturday.

Due to the flood in Binh Dinh province, the roofs of factories collapsed and their equipment was damaged.

In hard-hit Quy Nhon, residents woke up to find corrugated metal roofs and household items strewn across the streets. Later Friday, families with tangled extension cords and phones filed into a brightly lit mall, one of the few places in the city with backup power. The kids rejoiced at this unexpected outing as parents lined up at every available outlet, charged their devices, and anxiously called relatives to make sure they were safe.

As the skies cleared and sunlight emerged Friday morning, residents of Dak Lak province stepped outside to assess the debris left behind.

Streets were littered with fallen branches and twisted metal sheets, and muddy water still pooled in low-lying areas where the river reached record levels overnight. While shopkeepers were dragging their goods exposed to the puddle to dry in the sun, families were sweeping the mud in front of their doors and repairing the missing roof tiles.

Trees were reported to be uprooted, power lines damaged and buildings destroyed in many parts of Vietnam as Kalmaegi strengthened into a tropical storm and moved into Cambodia on Friday.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s financial capital, many people walked through flooded streets on Friday as high tides and ongoing rains from Kalmaegi submerged low-lying neighborhoods.

In Lam Dong province, authorities evacuated about 100 households near an irrigation lake after detecting a leak in the dam. Local officials told state media that the evacuation was a precaution to prevent a possible disaster.

Tropical cyclones hit region Kalmaegi hits Vietnam; The central region of the country was still reeling from floods caused by record-breaking rains. More than 537,000 people were evacuated, mostly by boat, as flood waters rose and landslides occurred, authorities said. The storm was expected to dump as much as 24 inches (600 millimeters) of rain in some areas before moving into Laos and northeastern Thailand later Friday.

Three fishermen were reported missing after their boat was swept away by strong waves near Ly Son Island off the coast of Quang Ngai province on Thursday. State media said the search was later suspended due to worsening weather conditions.

The Philippines experiences approximately 20 typhoons and storms every year and is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

Hit by nearly a dozen storms a year, Vietnam has endured a relentless series of storms this year. In late September, Typhoon Ragasa dropped torrential rain, followed by Typhoon Bualoi and Typhoon Matmo; together these caused more than 85 deaths or disappearances and an estimated $1.36 billion in damage.

Scientists warn that a warming climate is intensifying storms and rainfall in Southeast Asia, with floods and typhoons becoming increasingly destructive and frequent.

Kristen Corbosiero, a professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University at Albany, said that in a normal year, 23 storms would be named by this time, but Kalmaegi and Fung-Wong are the 26th and 27th storms. He said Kalmaegi was the fourth strongest typhoon this season.

“If you look at the climatology of the Philippines and Vietnam, they can get them almost all year long because the warm waters that fuel the storm are there,” Corbosiero said.