HOMES FLATTENED, VEHICLES OVERTURNED
In the Philippines, the scale of the Kalmaegi’s destruction became clearer on Thursday as floodwaters receded in its hardest-hit province of Cebu, revealing flattened homes, overturned vehicles and streets choked with debris.
There were 127 people still reported missing as of late on Thursday, and attempts to distribute aid and find bodies were hampered by the scale of the damage left by Kalmaegi, the 20th storm to hit the Philippines this year.
“The challenge now is debris clearing … These need to be cleared immediately, not only to account for the missing who may be among the debris or may have reached safe areas but also to allow relief operations to move forward,” Raffy Alejandro, a senior civil defence official, told DZBB radio.
The typhoon’s devastation in Cebu comes just over a month after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the holiday island, killing dozens and displacing thousands.
Forecasters were also tracking a brewing storm east of the Philippine island of Mindanao that could strengthen into a typhoon and hit the country early next week.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/typhoon-kalmaegi-hits-vietnam-after-140-deaths-philippines-5451266
