Typhoon Kalmaegi has unleashed catastrophic floods across the central Philippines, with at least 140 people dead and 127 missing, authorities confirmed on Thursday. This catastrophe marks the world’s deadliest storm of 2025 so far.
According to official figures from the National Civil Defence Office, 114 deaths were confirmed nationwide, while an additional 28 fatalities were recorded in Cebu Province, one of the hardest-hit areas.
Floodwaters described as “unprecedented” swept through towns and cities across Cebu, submerging homes, overturning cars, and washing away entire riverside communities. Massive shipping containers were seen floating through city streets as emergency crews struggled to reach survivors.
In Liloan, a town near Cebu City, AFP reporters witnessed scenes of widespread destruction — cars piled atop one another, roofs torn off buildings, and residents digging through thick mud to search for missing relatives.
Among the victims was Michelle Aton, a woman with a disability who drowned after becoming trapped in her bedroom. Her sister Christine Aton, 29, recounted their desperate attempt to save her.
“We tried to pry open her door with a kitchen knife and a crowbar but it wouldn’t budge,” Christine said. “Then the refrigerator started to float. My father and I swam out through a window, crying because we wanted to save my sister. But my father told me we couldn’t do anything — that all three of us might end up dead.”
Another survivor, Chyros Roa, 42, said his family escaped thanks to their dog’s frantic barking that woke them as floodwaters surged into their home.
“The current was really strong,” Roa said. “We called for help, but no one came. We later heard the rescuers themselves were swept away.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday declared a state of national calamity, authorising the government to release emergency funds and impose price controls on basic goods to stabilise the disaster-stricken economy.
Kalmaegi, which is now moving toward Vietnam, is the deadliest typhoon globally in 2025, according to the international disaster database EM-DAT. The storm surpasses last year’s Typhoon Trami, which killed 191 people, also in the Philippines.
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