
MANILA - Typhoon Kalmaegi has hammered the Philippines overnight on Monday, killing at least one and affecting nearly 60,000 people in the central and southern Philippines, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Tuesday.
The agency said it is verifying a report that the typhoon killed at least one person in the Central Visayas region. The agency did not provide details about the death.
Anthony Damalerio, head of the Bohol Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said in a radio interview that a 52-year-old man died after a fallen tree pinned him in Bohol province.
A total of 75,591 people were pre-emptively evacuated, said the NDRRMC, noting that Kalmaegi brought torrential rains that flooded villages across five regions, felled trees, and knocked down power lines.
Emergency officials reported that floodwaters swallowed streets in Cebu province, with some reaching up to the second floors of houses.
A power blackout blanketed Siargao Island, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, after strong, violent winds battered the island.
Janis Medina-Regino, Surigao del Norte provincial information officer, said over 70,000 people in the province have been in evacuation centers, some as early as Sunday, before Kalmaegi's landfall around midnight Monday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the typhoon forced airlines to cancel almost 100 flights.
The state weather bureau warned that Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, which was moving west-northwestward at 25 km per hour on Tuesday morning, will bring a "life-threatening and damaging" storm surge of up to 3 meters.
