Nine perish in landslide as heavy monsoon rains submerge Manila
Source: Agencies |
August 8, 2012, Wednesday
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RELENTLESS rains submerged half of the sprawling Philippine capital, triggered a landslide that killed nine people and sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue tens of thousands of residents who called media outlets pleading for help yesterday.
The deluge, the worst since 2009 when hundreds died in rampaging flash floods, was set off by the seasonal monsoon that overflowed major dams and rivers in Manila and surrounding provinces.
The capital and other parts of the country already were saturated from last week's Typhoon Saola, which battered Manila and the north for several days before blowing away last Friday. That storm was responsible for at least 53 deaths.
"It's like a water world," said Benito Ramos, head of the government's disaster response agency. He said the rains flooded 50 percent of metropolitan Manila on Monday evening, and about 30 percent remained under waist- or neck-deep waters yesterday.
Manila's weather bureau said a tropical storm off eastern China had intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, which were forecast to last until tomorrow.
In Manila's suburban Quezon City, a landslide hit a row of shanties perched below a hill, burying nine people, according to Ramos.
Army troops and police dug frantically to save those buried, including four children, as surviving relatives and neighbors wept. All the victims were recovered, some whose bodies were found near an entombed shanty's door as they apparently tried to flee.
"My wife, children and grandchild are down there," a drenched Jessie Bailon said while watching rescuers dig into a muddy mound where his shanty once stood.
TV footage showed rescuers dangling on ropes to bring children and other residents to safety from flooded houses across the city. Many residents trapped in their homes called radio and TV stations desperately asking for help.
ABC-CBN TV network reported receiving frantic calls from people whose relatives were trapped in the deluge, many without food since yesterday morning. They included a pregnant woman with a baby who wanted to be rescued from a roof and about 55 people who scrambled to the third floor of a Quezon City house as water rose below them.
Vehicles and even heavy trucks struggled to navigate water-clogged roads in the city, where hundreds of thousands of commuters were stranded. Many cars were stuck in the muddy waters.
The deluge, the worst since 2009 when hundreds died in rampaging flash floods, was set off by the seasonal monsoon that overflowed major dams and rivers in Manila and surrounding provinces.
The capital and other parts of the country already were saturated from last week's Typhoon Saola, which battered Manila and the north for several days before blowing away last Friday. That storm was responsible for at least 53 deaths.
"It's like a water world," said Benito Ramos, head of the government's disaster response agency. He said the rains flooded 50 percent of metropolitan Manila on Monday evening, and about 30 percent remained under waist- or neck-deep waters yesterday.
Manila's weather bureau said a tropical storm off eastern China had intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, which were forecast to last until tomorrow.
In Manila's suburban Quezon City, a landslide hit a row of shanties perched below a hill, burying nine people, according to Ramos.
Army troops and police dug frantically to save those buried, including four children, as surviving relatives and neighbors wept. All the victims were recovered, some whose bodies were found near an entombed shanty's door as they apparently tried to flee.
"My wife, children and grandchild are down there," a drenched Jessie Bailon said while watching rescuers dig into a muddy mound where his shanty once stood.
TV footage showed rescuers dangling on ropes to bring children and other residents to safety from flooded houses across the city. Many residents trapped in their homes called radio and TV stations desperately asking for help.
ABC-CBN TV network reported receiving frantic calls from people whose relatives were trapped in the deluge, many without food since yesterday morning. They included a pregnant woman with a baby who wanted to be rescued from a roof and about 55 people who scrambled to the third floor of a Quezon City house as water rose below them.
Vehicles and even heavy trucks struggled to navigate water-clogged roads in the city, where hundreds of thousands of commuters were stranded. Many cars were stuck in the muddy waters.
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