Typhoon Kalmaegi has killed at least 140 people and left another 127 missing after unleashing devastating flooding across the central Philippines, official figures showed on Thursday, as the storm headed towards Vietnam.
The typhoon is so far the globe’s deadliest of 2025, according to disaster database EM-DAT. Typhoon Trami, also in the Philippines, sat atop last year’s list with 191 people dead.
Floodwaters described as unprecedented rushed through Cebu province’s towns and cities this week, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and even massive shipping containers.
The national civil defence office on Thursday confirmed 114 deaths, though that tally did not include an additional 28 recorded by Cebu provincial authorities.
In Liloan, a town near Cebu City where 35 bodies have been recovered, AFP reporters saw cars piled atop each other by floodwaters and roofs torn off buildings as residents attempted to dig out of the mud.
Christine Aton’s sister Michelle, who has a disability, was among Liloan’s victims, trapped in her bedroom as the floodwaters rose inside their house.
“We tried to pry open (her bedroom door) with a kitchen knife and a crowbar but it wouldn’t budge…. Then the refrigerator started to float,” Aton, 29, said.
I opened a window and my father and I swam out. We were crying because we wanted to save my older sister.
“But my father told me we couldn’t do anything for her, that all three of us might end up dead.”
Chyros Roa, a 42-year-old father of two, said his family was saved by his dog’s barking when water rushed into their home in the early hours, giving them just enough time to reach their roof.
“The current was really strong. We tried to call for rescue but no one came. We were told the rescuers were swept away by the current,” he said.
On Thursday, President Ferdinand Marcos declared a “state of national calamity”, authorising the government to release funding for aid and impose price ceilings on basic necessities.
