Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves 26 dead in Philippines, people trapped on roofs and cars submerged

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA Philippines AP Typhoon Kalmaegi has left at least people dead in the Philippines mostly in flooding set off by the storm which barreled across the central part of the country on Tuesday catastrophe response agents explained Floodwaters trapped scores of people on their roofs and submerged cars In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard residents are evacuated to safer grounds as Typhoon Kalmaegi nears the area of San Miguel Leyte province Philippines on Monday Nov Philippine Coast Guard via AP In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard residents are evacuated to safer grounds as Typhoon Kalmaegi nears the area of Guiuan Eastern Samar province central Philippines on Monday Nov Philippine Coast Guard via AP Residential areas are flooded by Typhoon Kalmaegi as it affects Cebu city central Philippines Tuesday Nov AP Photo Jacqueline Hernandez Vehicles lie piled on after flooding caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Cebu city central Philippines Tuesday Nov AP Photo Jacqueline Hernandez In this photo provided by the Philippine Red Cross the Water Search and Rescue Squad assists individuals trapped on a roof in the Talamban barangay of Cebu Philippines Tuesday Nov Philippine Red Cross via AP Cebu City fire station leaders carry an individual after flooding caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Cebu city central Philippines Tuesday Nov AP Photo Jacqueline Hernandez Aftermath of flooding caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Cebu city central Philippines Tuesday Nov AP Photo Jacqueline Hernandez Show Caption of In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard residents are evacuated to safer grounds as Typhoon Kalmaegi nears the area of San Miguel Leyte province Philippines on Monday Nov Philippine Coast Guard via AP Expand A Philippine air force helicopter with five personnel on board crashed in a separate episode in southern Agusan del Sur province while flying to help provide humanitarian assistance to provinces battered by Kalmaegi The Super Huey chopper crashed near Loreto town and efforts were underway to locate the air force personnel aboard the military s Eastern Mindanao Command explained in a announcement Military bureaucrats didn t forthwith provide other details about the crash including the condition of the five air force personnel aboard and what could have caused the crash Kalmaegi was last spotted over the coastal waters of Jordan town in the central province of Guimaras with sustained winds of mph and gusts of up to mph It was forecast to blow away into the South China Sea late Tuesday or early Wednesday after hitting the western province of Palawan Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense revealed that at least people were released killed a multitude of in flooding in Cebu province and other central island provinces pummeled by Kalmaegi the th tropical cyclone to batter the Philippine archipelago this year Details of those typhoon deaths were still being verified he explained Among the dead was an older villager who drowned in floodwaters in Southern Leyte where a province-wide power outage was published after the typhoon made landfall around midnight in one of its eastern towns A resident died after being hit by a fallen tree in central Bohol province provincial administrators reported Gwendolyn Pang secretary-general of the Philippine Red Cross stated that an unspecified number of residents were trapped on their roofs by floodwaters in the coastal town of Liloan in Cebu and added that cars either were submerged in floods or floated in another Cebu area We have received so multiple calls from people asking us to rescue them from roofs and from their houses but it s impossible Pang explained The Associated Press on Tuesday morning There are so multiple debris you see cars floating so we have to wait for the flood to subside Cebu province was still recovering from a magnitude earthquake on Sept that left at least people dead and displaced thousands when houses collapsed or were severely damaged Related Articles Stability AI largely wins UK court battle against Getty Images over copyright and trademark In contemporary times in History November Obama wins presidency in historic vote Starbucks sells stake in China business in billion deal France threatens to block Shein over sale of childlike sex dolls ahead of Paris store opening Hopes dashed as man extracted from partially collapsed medieval tower in Rome dies soon after In Eastern Samar one of the east-central provinces first lashed by Kalmaegi early Tuesday fierce wind either ripped off roofs or damaged about mostly rural shanties on the island population of Homonhon which is part of the town of Guiuan but there were no published deaths or injuries Mayor Annaliza Gonzales Kwan reported There was no flooding at all but just strong wind Kwan advised the AP by telephone We re OK We ll make this through We ve been through a lot and bigger than this In November Typhoon Haiyan one of the largest part powerful tropical cyclones on record slammed ashore into Guiuan it then raked across the central Philippines leaving more than people dead or missing flattening entire villages and sweeping scores of ships inland Haiyan demolished about million houses and displaced more than million people in one of the country s poorest regions Before the typhoon s landfall officers commented that more than people had evacuated to safer ground in eastern and central Philippine provinces Personnel warned of torrential rains potentially destructive winds and storm surges of nearly feet Interisland ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing into increasingly rough seas stranding more than passengers and cargo truck drivers in nearly seaports the coast guard commented At least domestic flights were canceled The Philippines is battered by about typhoons and storms each year The country also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen developing volcanoes making it one of the world s bulk disaster-prone countries Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila contributed to this review