"It was the larger cities that were affected (by flooding), highly urbanized areas," said Rafaelito Alejandro of the Civil Defense in a local radio broadcast.
Store owner Reynaldo Vergara says all his merchandise was washed away when the river overflowed.
At 4–5 in the morning the currents were so strong that you couldn't go outside, he says.
It's never been like this before. The water was raging.
The highest number of deaths was recorded on the island of Cebu, which was hit hardest by the typhoon.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the typhoon's path, according to authorities in the country, with many forced to seek shelter from rising water levels on roofs of houses and cars.
Kalmaegi is now continuing westward over the tourist-dense Palawan, and is then expected to increase in strength over the ocean as it moves northwest toward Vietnam and Cambodia in the next few days.
