Manila: Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous areas as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.
In the densely populated capital, rescue workers were deployed across the city to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers and trapped vehicles.
People clutched flimsy umbrellas as they waded through thigh-deep murky water or used small boats and shopping carts to get around.
“The uproar it caused is great. The water reached the second floor of our house,” housewife Nora Clet told AFP.
Restaurant employee Rex Morano said he was unable to work due to “very high” flooding.
A state of calamity was declared for Manila, freeing up humanitarian aid funds after the state meteorologist warned of “severe flooding” in some areas.
Government offices were closed and classes suspended, at least 80 domestic and international flights were canceled and tens of thousands of customers lost power due to the weather.
Some shopping centers offered temporary shelter to affected people.
More than 200 millimeters (almost eight inches) of rain fell in the capital in the past 24 hours, Escullar said, which is “not unusual”.
More heavy rain was expected on Thursday.
Landslides killed a pregnant woman and three children in Batangas province, south of Manila, and blocked three major highways in the mountainous province of Benguet, police and disaster officials said on Wednesday.
This brings to at least 12 the death toll from heavy rains in the swath of the country in the past two weeks, as tens of thousands of people took shelter in evacuation centres.
President Ferdinand Marcos on Wednesday ordered disaster response officials to ensure adequate food supplies for the worst-affected areas because “their situation is critical.”
Hard-scrabble neighborhoods near Manila Bay were hit hard, with most streets under water and more than 2,000 people forced from their homes.
