At least 26 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced as Typhoon Kalmaegi brought torrential rains and severe flooding to the central Philippines on Tuesday.

Entire towns across the island of Cebu were submerged, with cars, trucks, and shipping containers swept away by muddy floodwaters. In Cebu alone, 21 people have been confirmed dead, civil defence deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro said, adding that most victims drowned.

“The situation in Cebu is really unprecedented,” provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro said in a Facebook post. “We were expecting the winds to be the dangerous part, but the water is what’s truly putting our people at risk. The floodwaters are just devastating.”

In the 24 hours before Kalmaegi’s landfall, Cebu City recorded 183 millimetres of rainfall — surpassing its monthly average, according to state weather specialist Charmagne Varilla.

Rescuers in Cebu City continued to search for residents trapped by rising waters, while local officials confirmed the recovery of two children’s bodies. Other deaths included an elderly resident in Leyte who drowned inside their home and a man struck by a falling tree in Bohol.

“The water rose so fast. By 4:00 a.m., it was already uncontrollable — people couldn’t get out. This is by far the worst we’ve experienced.” said 28-year-old Cebu resident Don del Rosario.

Hundreds of people still living in tents after a September earthquake were evacuated for safety, local authorities said. Nearly 400,000 people in total were pre-emptively moved from the typhoon’s path, according to civil defence officials.

Late Tuesday, the Philippine military confirmed a helicopter deployed for relief operations had crashed on northern Mindanao island while en route to Butuan City. Search and recovery operations are ongoing.

Typhoon Kalmaegi is now moving west across the Visayan islands with winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour and gusts reaching 180 kph, toppling trees and cutting power lines.

The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is hit by an average of 20 storms each year. With Kalmaegi, the nation has already reached that annual average, and forecasters warn at least three to five more storms could arrive before December ends.