Typhoon Kalmaegi brought strong winds and torrential rain to Vietnam on Friday (November 7, 2025), killing at least five people, destroying houses, tearing off roofs and uprooting trees. In the Philippines, where the storm killed at least 204 people earlier this week, survivors wept over the coffins of their loved ones and braced for another typhoon.
As the storm continued, recovery efforts began in affected towns and villages in both countries. In all the central provinces of Vietnam, people were cleaning up garbage and repairing the roofs of their houses.
Jimmy Abatayo, who lost his wife and nine close relatives in the typhoon-triggered floods in the central Philippine province of Cebu, was overcome with grief and guilt as he placed his palm over his wife’s coffin.
“I knew how to swim. I told my family to swim, you will be saved, just swim, be brave and keep swimming,” said Abattoyo, 53, after pausing before crying. “They didn’t hear what I said because I’ll never see them again.”
Mourning the dead in the Philippines
In Cebu, 141 people died, mostly as a result of the floods. Villagers gathered on Friday (November 7) to say goodbye to their dead, including in a basketball hall converted into a funeral home, where relatives wept in front of white coffins decorated with flowers and small portraits of the dead.
A state of emergency declared by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Thursday (Nov 6) was still in effect in the Philippines as the country braced for another potentially powerful storm, Typhoon Phung Vong, known locally as Uwan.
Mr. Marcos, who visited Cebu on Friday, said the unusually heavy rain overwhelmed levees and flood defenses and caused rivers to overflow on Tuesday, inundating nearby residential areas as panicked residents scrambled to the upper floors or roofs of their homes.
Across the country, Calmaegi left at least 204 people dead and 109 missing, the Philippine Civil Defense Office said, and displaced more than half a million people.
Nearly 4,500,000 had been evacuated to shelters, and nearly 4,000,000 remained in evacuation centers or the homes of relatives as of Saturday.
The weather bureau said Phung Vong would arrive early next week and forecast it would cover about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) before making landfall late Sunday or early Monday in the northern province of Aurora. It could also potentially affect the densely populated metropolitan area of Manila.
Tolls in Vietnam
State media reported that five people were killed in Vietnam – three in Dak Lak and two in Gia Lai province, while three were reported missing in Quang Ngai.
Fifty-two houses collapsed and nearly 2,600 others were damaged or had their roofs blown off, including more than 2,400 in Gia Lai alone. The storm also caused numerous power outages and brought down hundreds of power poles, knocking out power to more than 1.6 million households. Authorities said Saturday that power had been restored in most areas, but about 500,000 households remained without power.
Factory roofs were lost and equipment damaged due to floods in Binh Dinh province.
In hard-hit Qui Nhon, residents awoke to find corrugated metal roofs and household items strewn across the streets. Later Friday, families crowded the brightly lit shopping center — one of the few places with backup power in the city — clutching tangled extension cords and their phones. Children rejoiced at the unexpected outing, while parents lined up at every available outlet, charging their devices and anxiously calling relatives to make sure they were safe.
As the sky cleared and sunlight broke through Friday morning, residents of Dak Lak province came out to assess the wreckage left behind.
Streets were littered with fallen branches and twisted metal sheets, and murky water was still pooling in low-lying areas where the river rose to record heights overnight. Shopkeepers hauled water-soaked goods out to dry in the sun, while families swept dirt from doorsteps and patched missing roof tiles.
Uprooted trees, damaged power lines and collapsed buildings were reported in many parts of Vietnam as Kalmaegi weakened into a tropical storm and moved into Cambodia on Friday.
In Vietnam’s financial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, many waded through flooded streets on Friday as high tides and heavy rains from Typhoon Kalmaegi inundated low-lying neighborhoods.
In Lam Dong province, authorities evacuated about 100 households near an irrigation lake after discovering a leak in a dam. Local authorities told state media that the evacuation was a precautionary measure to prevent a potential disaster.
Tropical cyclones lash the region
Calmaegi struck Vietnam as the central region of the country was still reeling from flooding caused by record rains. Authorities said more than 537,000 people had been evacuated, many by boat, as floodwaters rose and landslides began. The storm is forecast to drop up to 24 inches (600 millimeters) of rain in some areas before moving into Laos and northeast Thailand later on Friday.
Three fishermen are missing Thursday after their boat was washed away by strong waves near Li Son Island in Quang Ngai province. Search operations were later suspended due to worsening weather, state media reported.
The Philippines experiences about 20 typhoons and storms every year and is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
Vietnam, which is hit by about a dozen storms every year, has experienced a relentless streak this year. Typhoon Ragasa brought torrential rain in late September, followed by typhoons Bualoi and Matmo, which left more than 85 people dead or missing and caused an estimated $1.36 billion in damage.
Scientists warn that a warming climate will intensify storms and rainfall in Southeast Asia, making floods and typhoons more destructive and more frequent.
Kristen Corbusiero, a professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University at Albany, said there are 23 named storms so far in a typical year, but Kalmaegi and Phung Vong are the 26th and 27th named storms. Kalmaegi is the fourth strongest typhoon this season, she said.
“If you look at the climate data for the Philippines and Vietnam, they can get it almost all year round because the warm waters that fuel the storm are just there,” Corbasiero said.
