Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves 114 dead, 127 missing in Philippines, many in province recovering from quake

Philippine officials said Thursday that the death toll from widespread flooding and devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the country’s central region has risen to at least 114 with 127 people reported missing.

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine officials said Thursday that the death toll from widespread flooding and devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the country’s central region has risen to at least 114 with 127 people reported missing, many of them in a hard-hit province still recovering from a deadly earthquake.

Most of the deaths were reported in the central province of Cebu, which was pummeled by Kalmaegi on Tuesday, setting off flash floods and causing a river and other waterways to overflow, said Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.

Kalmaegi moved away from western Palawan province into the South China Sea before noon Wednesday and was barreling toward Vietnam, according to forecasters.

Among the dead were six people who were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday. The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by Kalmaegi, the military said. It did not give the cause of the crash.

Provincial officials said Kalmaegi set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell. The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing residents to climb on their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the floodwaters rose, officials said.