TENS of thousands of people fled roof-high floods that killed four people on Friday as tropical storm “Mario” swept across the Philippines, marooning Metro Manila and forcing officials to shut government offices, financial markets and schools in the capital and nearby areas.
Officials said two people died in Quezon City, one in Rizal and one in Caloocan City, and all of drowning.
village after the Marikina River overflowed, flooding
their homes due to the heavy rain brought by tropical
storm Mario.
The weather bureau said Mario—international name Fung-Wong—dumped rain equivalent to three weeks of rainfall in just 12 hours.
At 9 am the agency said Manila and the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan were under the highest rainfall warning of red, which means “severe flooding is expected.”
Many streets in Manila were flooded, while most of the routes leading to it were also under water, hence cutting it off from the suburbs and stranding thousands of people.
Manila Electric Co. cut off power in many areas in Metro Manila due to the floods to ensure its customers’ safety.
At least six international flights were diverted to Cebu and Clark in Pampanga as a result of the weather.
Disaster officials said 104,339 families or nearly half a million people were affected by the floods and heavy rainfall, and of that number 10,852 families or 40,039 people were staying in 63 evacuation centers nationwide.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said more than 1,200 families were in evacuation centers in Metro Manila and several provinces.
Rescue workers in trucks and rubber dinghies plucked residents from the tops of flooded homes after one of Manila’s major rivers burst its banks, swamping heavily populated eastern districts.
“We’re dealing with floods over a large area. Our local as well as national responders are out there leading the rescue operations,” Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told AFP. (C/O Manila Standard)