PHILIPPINES PERSPECTIVE

Manila, July 27, 2026. In the Philippines, the storm that has just struck Guangdong carries a different name in the collective memory: Kiyapo. Under this local designation, the system crossed the archipelago days before intensifying over the South China Sea and becoming Typhoon Noul, now classified as the most powerful storm of the year in South China.

Kiyapo's passage, combined with the southwest monsoon (habagat), first battered Mindanao and the Visayas. Davao Region's Office of Civil Defense recorded one death—a resident swept away with his motorcycle in barangay Talandang—while three barangays required evacuation. In total, 127,000 residents were affected across Regions IX, XI, XII, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, with at least 27,000 families impacted by flooding as of July 24.

In Iloilo City, floodwaters began receding Saturday, but 35 of 45 flooded barangays remained submerged, per Situation Report No. 3 from the municipal emergency operations center. Of 508 residents affected, 221 were still sheltering in four evacuation centers spread across Jaro, La Paz, Lapuz, Mandurriao, and Molo; three houses sustained partial damage and five trees were uprooted, with no downed electrical lines reported.

National weather agency Pagasa tracked the trajectory hour by hour: as the system exited the Philippine area of responsibility, it displayed sustained winds of 80 mph and gusts of 100 mph, positioned 350 km west of Itbayat, Batanes. Specialist Daniel Villamil warned that the typhoon's residual trough, coupled with an enhanced habagat, would continue bringing rain to Cagayan, Batanes, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte, with up to 4 inches of rainfall in 24 hours over Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, and Occidental Mindoro.

For Manila, this episode illustrates a now-familiar pattern: a tropical system born or intensified in Philippine waters, leaving local damage before continuing its course toward South China, where its human and material toll takes on an entirely different scale. Local authorities stress persistent vigilance as the 2026 typhoon season promises to be particularly active across the entire western Pacific.