Agusan (AP) – A Philippine Air Force helicopter carrying five personnel on board crashed Monday in the southern part of the country while on a mission to assist in Typhoon Kalmaegi relief operations. The disaster has already claimed at least five lives and caused widespread flooding that has left residents stranded on rooftops in several provinces.
The Super Huey chopper went down near Loreto town in Agusan del Sur province as it was en route to deliver humanitarian aid to communities ravaged by the powerful storm, according to a statement from the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command. Rescue efforts are underway to locate the crew members.
Military officials have yet to release details about the condition of the five personnel or the cause of the crash. The incident underscores the perilous conditions faced by emergency responders in a nation frequently battered by severe weather and natural disasters.
Typhoon Kalmaegi, packing sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph) and gusts up to 180 kph (112 mph), was last sighted near Jordan town in Guimaras province. It is expected to move into the South China Sea by late Tuesday or early Wednesday after making landfall in the western province of Palawan.
Authorities reported several fatalities linked to the storm, including an elderly man who drowned in floodwaters in Southern Leyte and another person killed by a fallen tree in Bohol. In Cebu province, three additional deaths were confirmed as heavy rainfall and flooding inundated multiple towns.
Philippine Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said numerous residents in coastal Liloan town, Cebu, were trapped on their rooftops as floodwaters rose. “We have received so many calls from people asking us to rescue them from roofs and from their houses, but it’s impossible,” Pang told The Associated Press. “There are so many debris, you see cars floating — we have to wait for the flood to subside.”
The devastation comes as Cebu is still reeling from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck on September 30, killing at least 79 people and displacing thousands.
In Eastern Samar, which bore the brunt of Kalmaegi’s early landfall, fierce winds tore off roofs and damaged about 300 homes on Homonhon Island, part of Guiuan town. “There was no flooding at all, but just strong wind,” said Mayor Annaliza Gonzales Kwan. “We’re OK. We’ll make this through. We’ve been through a lot, and bigger than this.”
Guiuan was among the areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over four million.
Ahead of Kalmaegi’s landfall, disaster officials evacuated more than 387,000 residents from high-risk areas across the eastern and central Philippines. Authorities warned of torrential rain, destructive winds, and storm surges up to three meters (10 feet) high.
Interisland ferries and fishing boats were grounded due to rough seas, stranding over 3,500 passengers and truck drivers in nearly 100 ports. At least 186 domestic flights were also canceled.
The Philippines, hit by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, remains one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations, also facing frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
