Typhoon Kalmaegi has left a trail of destruction across Southeast Asia. This has resulted in over 188 deaths in the Philippines and inundated agrarian areas in Vietnam, resulting in 5 deaths there. The decades storm made landfall earlier this week. It triggered the evacuation of almost 500,000 people—not just in the Philippines, but displacement spread across eight different countries. In response, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. proclaimed a state of national emergency nationwide. He took this bold step in recognition of the horrific devastation wracked by the storm.
As Meteorologist Kristen Corbosiero pointed out, that’s a really weird trend this year. The current storm Kalmaegi is the 27th named storm this year. Historically, an average season would have just 23 named storms total. “If you look at the climatology for the Philippines and for Vietnam, it’s almost the entire year that they can get them because the warm waters that fuel the storm just are there,” she explained.
The storm continued across the rest of the Philippines, displacing more than 500,000 people. Almost 450,000 of them had been evacuated to makeshift shelters. As of this Thursday, more than 318,000 people are still residing in these emergency shelters. Their situation is truly grim due to the incessant downpour and destruction of infrastructure.
In Vietnam, Kalmaegi brought further destruction. The hurricane’s flooding wrecked 52 homes and left close to 2,600 others uninhabitable. Gia Lai province experienced the most severe impact, with more than 2,400 houses destroyed. The south-central region of Vietnam was still reeling from severe flooding caused by weeks of record-setting rainfall as Kalmaegi made landfall.
The effects of the storm stretched far beyond the physical damage. Kalmaegi triggered power outages for over 1.6 million households in Vietnam. According to local reports, three of the deaths occurred in Dak Lak province and two in Gia Lai province.
The residents in both countries painted a picture of their experiences as they cut a path through the eye of the storm. Jimmy Abatayo from the Philippines shared his story as his home became surrounded by floods. “I was able to swim. I told my family to swim, you will be saved, just swim, be brave and keep swimming,” he said, illustrating the desperation faced by many.
Kalmaegi downraded into a tropical storm as it crossed into Cambodia on Friday. More frequent and intense storms As scientists have consistently warned, climate change is worsening the frequency and intensity of storms and downpours flooding Southeast Asia. Fuelling the fear of calamity Yet with communities look still reeling from the effects of this deadly typhoon, this trend is worrisome for potential future disasters.
