MANILA – In response to the devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of emergency. The deadly storm has resulted in the loss of at least 114 lives and left hundreds missing across central provinces, marking the most catastrophic natural disaster in the country this year.

Most of the fatalities were due to drowning as flash floods swept through the region. The central province of Cebu has been particularly hard hit, with 127 people still unaccounted for. After wreaking havoc on the archipelago, the typhoon moved into the South China Sea on Wednesday.

According to the Office of Civil Defense, the typhoon’s impact has been widespread, affecting nearly 2 million residents and displacing over 560,000 people. Among those displaced, nearly 450,000 have sought refuge in emergency shelters.

President Marcos announced the “state of national calamity” during a meeting with disaster-response officials to evaluate the typhoon’s aftermath. This declaration is intended to expedite the release of emergency funds and curb issues such as food hoarding and price inflation.

As the nation grapples with the aftermath of Kalmaegi, disaster-response teams are on high alert. Officials have issued warnings about a potential new threat: another tropical cyclone developing in the Pacific Ocean, which could intensify into a super typhoon and impact the northern Philippines in the coming week.

Among the dead attributed by officials to Kalmaegi were six people who were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday. The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by the typhoon, the military said. It did not give the cause of the crash.

Kalmaegi set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell in Cebu province. The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing residents to climb on their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the floodwaters rose, provincial officials said.

At least 71 people died in Cebu, mostly due to drownings, while 65 others were reported missing and 69 injured, the Office of Civil Defense said.

It added that 62 others were reported missing in the central province of Negros Occidental, which is located near Cebu.

“We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are really some unexpected things like flash floods,” Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro told The Associated Press by telephone.

The problems may have been made worse by years of quarrying that caused clogging of nearby rivers, which overflowed, and substandard flood control projects in Cebu province, Baricuatro said.

A corruption scandal involving substandard or non-existent flood control projects across the Philippines has sparked public outrage and street protests in recent months.

Cebu was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 30 that left at least 79 people dead and displaced thousands when houses collapsed or were severely damaged.

Thousands of northern Cebu residents who were displaced by the earthquake were moved to sturdier evacuation shelters from flimsy tents before the typhoon struck, Baricuatro said. Northern towns devastated by the earthquake were mostly not hit by floods generated by Kalmaegi, she added.

Ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing out to increasingly rough seas, stranding more than 3,500 passengers and cargo truck drivers in nearly 100 seaports, the coast guard said. At least 186 domestic flights were canceled.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.