Philippines floods kill 7, strand thousands
MANILA, Philippines – Some of the Philippines’ heaviest rains on record fell for a second day Tuesday, turning the capital’s roads into rivers and trapping tens of thousands of people in homes and shelters. The government suspended all work except rescues and disaster response.
Officials reported at least seven people dead, 11 injured and four missing. The dead included a 5-year-old boy whose house was hit by a concrete wall that collapsed. His two adult relatives were also injured.
Throughout the sprawling, low-lying capital region of 12 million people, floodwaters made most of the roads impassable and reached waist or neck-deep along rivers and creeks. Authorities opened more than 200 evacuation centers in Manila and surrounding provinces filled with tens of thousands of people, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said. Overall, more than 600,000 people have been affected by the floods.
The flooding followed two nights of heavy monsoon rains, enhanced by Tropical Storm Trami. The storm hovered over the North Philippine Sea and drenched the main northern island of Luzon with up to an inch of rain per hour. It was forecast to move away from the Philippines toward Taiwan on Wednesday.
In many coastal towns along swollen Lake Laguna, near Manila, and in food-growing riverside provinces, residents were trapped on rooftops, waded through the streets or drifted on makeshift rafts. Many chose to stay close to their homes for fear they would be looted if they left. Floodwaters had subsided late Monday but the night of pounding rains Tuesday repeated the deluge.
Flooding has become more frequent in Manila because of mountain deforestation, clogged waterways and canals where large squatter communities live, and poor urban planning.
According to an assessment from the Department of Science and Technology, rainfall reached 23.62 inches in and around Manila Bay on Sunday alone, more than a month’s worth of rain in a day. That’s compared to the disastrous 2009 Typhoon Ketsana, the strongest cyclone to hit Manila in modern history, with 17.9 inches of rain in 24 hours.
In the chilly northern mountain town of Sagada, army troops and police on Monday rescued 29 tourists, including 13 Japanese, who were stranded for several hours inside a cave after two days of heavy rains caused a stream at the entrance to swell, Office of Civil Defense official Andrew Alex Uy said. One Filipino tourist remained missing.
Several dams in Luzon were forced to open their floodgates because of rising waters and thousands of residents downstream were told to move.
Several domestic flights at Ninoy Aquino International Airport were canceled. Key roads leading to the airport were flooded and passengers and crew remain delayed.
The Philippine archipelago is among the most battered by rainstorms in the world. About 20 tropical cyclones hit the country every year.