At least 140 dead in the Philippines after Typhoon Kalmaegi hits
Typhoon Kalmaegi has caused at least 140 deaths and left 127 people missing after causing severe flooding in the central Philippines, officials reported on Thursday, November 6. The storm was moving toward Vietnam at the time.
According to the disaster database EM-DAT, Kalmaegi is the deadliest storm worldwide in 2025 so far. For comparison, Typhoon Trami in the Philippines was last year's third deadliest, with 191 fatalities.
Floodwaters, described as unprecedented, swept through towns and cities in Cebu province this week, destroying cars, riverside shacks, and even large shipping containers.
The national civil defense office confirmed 114 deaths, excluding 28 additional fatalities reported by Cebu provincial authorities.
Devastation in Liloan
In Liloan, a town near Cebu City where 35 bodies have been recovered, Agence France-Presse reporters observed cars piled atop one another by the flood and roofs torn off buildings. Residents struggled to free themselves from the mud.
"A state of national calamity"
The government declared a state of national calamity to release funds for relief efforts and control prices on essential goods.
State weather service meteorologist Benison Estareja told AFP that the rainfall in areas affected by Kalmaegi was 1.5 times the usual full-month November total for Cebu, describing it as an event that occurs once every 20 years.
Author’s summary: Typhoon Kalmaegi caused unprecedented flooding in central Philippines, resulting in over 140 deaths and government emergency measures, marking it as the deadliest storm of 2025 globally.