Record rainfall: more than 60% of Philippine capital under water

 

 

August 20, 2013 – MANILA – Flooding caused by some of the Philippines’ heaviest rains on record submerged more than half the capital Tuesday, turning roads into rivers and trapping tens of thousands of people in homes and shelters. The government suspended all work except rescues and disaster response for a second day. 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 also were 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. “I had to wade through waist-deep flood. I just need to go to the house of my boss … to get some money, then go home,” said Esteban Gabin, a 45-year-old driver, who was plotting the best route to check on his family in Pampanga province, northwest of Manila. “But I may have to swim to reach my home because we live near the Pampanga River, and the flood there could reach up to neck deep.” 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 30 millimeters (just over 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. Authorities said that up to 60 percent of the capital region was submerged. Flooding has become more frequent in Manila because of deforestation of mountains, clogged waterways and canals where large squatter communities live, and poor urban planning. “We’re surprised by the rainfall. Some areas experienced record levels,” said Science Secretary Mario Montejo. According to an assessment from the Department of Science and Technology, rainfall reached 600 mm (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 455 mm of rain in 24 hours. Many domestic and international flights at Ninoy Aquino International Airport were cancelled. Key roads leading to the airport are flooded and passengers and crew are inevitably delayed. The Philippine archipelago is among the most battered by rainstorms in the world. About 20 tropical cyclones hit the country every year.

Earlier this week, relentless monsoon rains and Tropical Storm Trami wreaked havoc in the Philippines, causing at least ten deaths and severely flooding wide swaths of the capital Manila. Flood-battered residents from coastal areas and mountainous regions appealed for help, after days of some of the Philippines' heaviest rains on record. The floods began receding yesterday, even as authorities evacuated thousands of residents along Manila's overflowing rivers and braced for more chaos in outlying provinces. Trami is now bearing down on heavily populated northern Taiwan, prompting schools and offices to close. A boy carries his dog through floodwaters brought by the monsoon rain, intensified by tropical storm Trami, in Paranaque city, metro Manila, Philippines, on August 20, 2013. Heavy rains continue to batter the Philippine capital and nearby provinces, causing government offices, schools and some businesses to suspend work, and sending residents to flee their homes. (Reuters/Romeo Ranoco) 2 A passenger bus commutes along a flooded highway as heavy rains pummel Manila, on August 20, 2013.(Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images) # 3 A man wades through a flooded street in Manila, on August 20, 2013. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images) # 4 Floodwaters run off a street as commuters try to make their way through the water in the suburbs of Manila, on August 20, 2013.(Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images) # 5 Filipinos use a makeshift float to cross a flooded street in the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, on August 20, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 6 Residents wade in waist-deep floodwaters brought by the monsoon rain, in Paranaque city, on August 20, 2013.(Reuters/Romeo Ranoco) # 7 A woman wades in floodwaters brought by monsoon rain, in Kawit town of Cavite city, on August 19, 2013.(Reuters/Romeo Ranoco) # 8 Residents use umbrellas aboard a truck as they are evacuated from their houses swamped with floodwaters in Sucat, Paranaque city, on August 19, 2013. (Reuters/John Javellana) # 9 Rain clouds loom over the Manila skyline as seen from a passenger plane on August 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) # 10 A Filipino boy cleans dishes at a temporary evacuation center as rain pours in suburban San Mateo, on August 21, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 11 Residents brave neck-deep floods outside their house in Marikina city, on August 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 12 Residents look inside a submerged car in floodwaters in Las Pinas, Metro Manila, on August 19, 2013. (Reuters/Erik De Castro) # 13 Residents rescue a dog carried away by floodwaters in the farming town of Novaleta, some 26 kilometers outside Manila, on August 19, 2013. (Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images) # 14 Residents use an inflatable raft as they go on their daily chores amidst flooding at Binakayan township, Cavite province, on August 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) # 15 A Filipino man carries his son across a flooded street as they evacuate to higher grounds in Las Pinas, on August 19, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 16 A man pushes his motorcycle through floodwaters brought by the monsoon rain, in Pasay city, metro Manila, on August 20, 2013.(Reuters/Romeo Ranoco) # 17 A resident wades in neck deep floodwaters in Masantol, Pampanga, on August 21, 2013. (Reuters/Erik De Castro) # 18 A family rests at a flooded evacuation center after floodwaters swamped their house, in Calumpit, Bulacan, north of Manila, on August 21, 2013. (Reuters/Erik De Castro) # 19 Filipino boys look out from their house as other makeshift residences lay damaged from strong floodwater currents, after days of torrential rains along a waterway in Las Pinas, south of Manila, on August 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 20 Residents use a mosquito net to catch fish along a flooded alley in a residential district in Bacoor, Cavite on August 20, 2013.(Reuters/Erik De Castro) # 21 Filipino men struggle to cross strong currents as floodwaters rise at a residential area in Las Pinas, on August 19, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 22 Filipino residents affected by floods, lit by the headlights of passing vehicles, while they wait to receive relief goods in Las Pinas, on August 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 23 Filipino residents affected by floods reach out to receive relief goods in Las Pinas, on August 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) # 24 Filipinos affected by the flooding line up to receive relief goods in Las Pinas, south of Manila, Philippines on August 21, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)