Monsoon rains set off massive flooding in Philippine capital region
Life in metropolitan Manila ground to a halt on July 21 as torrential rains inundated the capital region.
MANILA – Floodwaters driven by torrential rains ground life in the Philippine capital to a halt on July 22, with tens of thousands evacuated from their homes and at least two people believed missing.
Schools and government offices in metropolitan Manila and the surrounding provinces were closed after a night of rain that saw the region's Marikina River burst its banks.
More than 23,000 people living along the river were evacuated overnight, sheltering in schools, village halls and covered courtyards.
Another 25,000 more were evacuated in the metropolitan area's Quezon and Caloocan cities.
'Usually, these people are from low-lying areas like beside creeks (feeding into the river),' according to Mr Wilmer Tan, of the Marikina rescue office, who said the river reached 18m in height.
An elderly woman and her driver were swept down a swollen creek as they attempted to cross a bridge in Caloocan, said Mr John Paul Nietes, an emergency operations centre assistant supervisor.
'Their car was recovered last night. The rescue operation is continuing, but as of today, they haven't found either of them,' he said. 'The car window was broken, so the hope is that they were able to escape.'
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Floodwaters were receding early on July 22, though thousands of people remained unable to return to their homes.
Ongoing monsoon rains have killed at least three people and left another seven missing in the central and southern Philippines since Tropical Storm Wipha skirted the country on July 18, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
At least 20 storms or typhoons strike or come near the Philippines each year, with the country's poorest regions typically the hardest hit.
Deadly and destructive storms are becoming more powerful
as the world gets warmer because of climate change.
'This is hard because, if the rain will continue, the river will swell,' Manila street sweeper Avelina Lumangtad, 61, said, as she stood next to a flooded thoroughfare.
'The floods are dangerous.' AFP
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