The country experienced the deadliest natural disaster of the year on Thursday when Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency because Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 114 people and left hundreds missing. Central provinces were beaten by the strong storm which caused flash floods and landslides that wiped communities off the face of the Earth and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
The Office of Civil Defence had estimated that close to 2 million individuals in the various regions were affected by the typhoon. Over 560000 people had been displaced, and approximately 450000 had taken shelter in temporary shelters. A majority of the documented deaths were brought about by drowning in the sudden floods with 127 people still missing, especially in the most devastated province of Cebu.
Typhoon Kalmaegi left the Philippine archipelago on Wednesday heading onto the south china sea after causing massive destruction. The state of national calamity declaration was issued by the President at a meeting with disaster-response officials to assess the magnitude of the damage and plan the recovery operation. The declaration allows the government to hasten the disbursement of emergency funds, price control of basic commodities, and they can hinder food and correct hoarding of supplies in the afflicted regions.
Marcos insisted on the urgent relief and rehabilitation operations and asked the government agencies and local government to collaborate in order to bring normalcy in the shortest time. He said that our focus is to provide relief to the victims, to reconstruct communities and to save lives.
Although the nation is still reeling over the destruction caused by Kalmaegi, weather forecasters have already issued warnings on another tropical system that is developing in the Pacific Ocean. The storm that may happen next week may escalate to super typhoon and pose a danger to the north of Philippines at the beginning of the next week forcing the authorities to maintain their alert and be ready in the event of evacuations.