Typhoon Kalmaegi Rampages Across Vietnam as the Philippines Prepares for a New Storm
DAK LAK, Vietnam (AP) — Typhoon Kalmaegi lashed Vietnam on Friday with powerful winds and heavy rain, killing at least five people, destroying homes, tearing off roofs, and uprooting trees. Later that day, the storm moved into Cambodia.
In the Philippines, where Kalmaegi had already struck earlier in the week and left dozens of fatalities, mourning continued as survivors gathered around coffins of loved ones while bracing for another incoming typhoon. Relief and recovery operations started in devastated towns and villages across both nations.
Scenes of Loss and Recovery
Across the central Vietnamese provinces, residents began clearing wreckage and fixing damaged roofs. Cleanup efforts exposed the immense extent of destruction the storm had left behind.
“I told my family to swim, you will be saved, just swim, be brave and keep swimming,” said Jimmy Abatayo, 53, from Cebu, as he gently ran his hand over his wife’s coffin. “They did not hear what I said because I would never see them again.”
Abatayo lost his wife and nine other close relatives when severe flooding hit Cebu province as the typhoon passed. In total, 139 people died there, most of them drowned during the floodwaters' surge.
Communities in Mourning
Villagers gathered Friday to bid farewell to their dead. In one community, a basketball gym was converted into a temporary funeral parlor where rows of white coffins stood adorned with flowers and small portraits of the deceased. Grief-stricken relatives wept quietly beside them.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national emergency to mobilize aid and speed up recovery efforts in the hardest-hit areas.
Author’s Summary
Typhoon Kalmaegi ravaged Vietnam and the Philippines, leaving deep scars of destruction and loss, as survivors faced grief while rebuilding amid a looming new storm threat.
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