3 die as floods wreak havoc in Manila
Print Edition
At least three people have died in the Philippines after torrential rain engulfed parts of the main island of Luzon, including Manila, where neck-deep water swept through homes forcing thousands into emergency shelters.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said mountainous areas to the north of the island were hit by floods of 1.8 meters, following persistent rain that began at the weekend.
One person was killed in a storm-related car accident in the northern Apayao mountain region while a child was crushed by a collapsing wall and a man drowned in towns just outside the capital.
Four other people are missing — three washed away by floods and overflowing rivers and a local female tourist who got lost while exploring a cave in the northern resort town of Sagada.
In the capital Manila, a megacity of 12 million people, schools, government offices and the stock exchange were closed as a red alert was raised in the morning — the highest level of a warning system in which widespread floods are predicted.
“We are trying to save whatever we can. But it was so sudden,” JR Pascual, a father-of-four, said as he tried to take the most important possessions from his home that was flooded up to his waist. “My neighbor wasn’t even able to get his car out.”
Pascual lives in a middle-class district of Cavite, a coastal area that is about 15 kilometers from the heart of Manila.
Flooded streets
Roads from Cavite and other southern areas into the city were impassable, while some motorists who tried to get through the flooded streets were forced to abandon their cars.
Footage on ABS-CBN television showed people in nearby shanty town communities standing on their corrugated iron roofs, as fast-moving water swept through the windows of their homes.
By early afternoon, the rain had eased and the red alert was lowered.
One of President Benigno Aquino’s top aides said he did not expect a major disaster. “Compared to other calamities, this is not of the same gravity as the rest. I hope this will be done by tomorrow,” Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa told a nationally televised government disaster briefing.
Nevertheless, thousands of people were believed to be sheltering in evacuation centers or trapped on rooftops while waiting for the water to subside.
The flooding was due to the normal monsoon being exacerbated by Tropical Storm Trami, which was causing problems despite being more than 500km from the Philippines, weather forecasters said.
The Southeast Asian archipelago endures about 20 major storms or typhoons annually, generally in the second half of the year and many of them are deadly.
In August last year, 51 people died and two million others were hit when more than a month’s worth of rain was dumped in and around Manila in 48 hours.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
