Floods submerge Metro Manila areas
As Typhoon Ondoy batters Luzon
By Katherine Evangelista, Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Agence France-Presse, INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 14:15:00 09/26/2009
Filed Under: Weather, Flood
MANILA, Philippines —(UPDATE 2) At least 10 people were reported dead or missing and more than 1,800 were forced to evacuate as tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) lashed the Philippines Saturday, officials said.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of calamity in Metro Manila and in 25 Luzon provinces as heavy rains brought by the storm caused the worst flooding seen in the capital in some 20 years.
Close to 2,000 people in different areas in Metro Manila were forced to flee their homes and major thoroughfares were closed to traffic.
The storm, bearing winds of 85 kilometers per hour with gusts of 100 kilometers, hit the main island of Luzon near the town of Infanta at about 10 a.m. Saturday, moving west at 19 kilometers an hour, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
A total of 1,806 passengers together with 120 Cargo trucks, 27 Small cars and two passenger buses were stranded in the ports of Batangas, Calapan City, Puerto Real, Tabaco, Pasacao, Virac and Tamban, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.
A wall, weakened by floodwaters, collapsed in a suburb of Manila, killing a father and child while five children drowned in flooding elsewhere in the city, radio station DZMM said.
Three other people were swept away by a swollen river outside the capital, it said.
Flooding was reported in many districts with waters in some areas reaching as high as the rooftops of one-storey buildings, the civil defense office said.
Power was cut in many parts of the city, partly due to flooding but also as a protective measure in some districts to prevent people attempting to escape the floodwaters from being electrocuted by fallen lines.
Waist-deep floodwaters prompted transport officials to close the busy South Luzon Expressway.
In Marikina City, at least 75 families (373 people) from the village of Malanday were evacuated to the Malanday Elementary School, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported.
Twenty families or 100 people were brought to the Santolan Elementary School in the village of Santolan, Pasig City while four families (20 people) in the village of Tunasan, Muntinlupa City sought refuge in a covered court.
In San Mateo, Rizal, at least 269 families were reported to be severely affected by rising floodwater in the villages of Banaba and Sta. Ana. But the NDCC report did not say if the affected families have been evacuated.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who is also in charge of civil defense operations, said all the efforts of the police and the military were being concentrated on rescuing people trapped on rooftops.
But he said the flooding in the streets and the large numbers of stalled vehicles were giving rescue units "a hard time" in reaching those affected.
In a radio broadcast, he advised that "if you are on the roof, don't try to leave. Just remain there on the roof and we will do everything to rescue you."
He remarked that even he had to swim through chest-deep waters to reach his office
Philippine Navy spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said at least 14 rescue teams had been deployed as of Saturday noon.
Radio reports said that due to heavy rain, a wall had collapsed in a suburb of Manila, leaving one child missing, but government offices could not confirm this.
Huge traffic jams clogged the roads in the capital as floodwaters caused many vehicles to stall.
Local officials made appeals on air, asking rescue agencies to send rubber boats to rescue stranded people.
Navy personnel rescued at least 40 people using two amphibious trucks in the cities of Malabon and Navotas, Arevalo said.
In Paranaque City, two rescue teams, each composed of an officer and nine enlisted personnel, were also deployed equipped with two rubber boats.
The Navy also sent eight rescue teams in Cavite and two teams in Central Luzon.
Pagasa raised storm signal warning number 2 over Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Northern Quezon and Polillo Island.
Storm warning signal number 1 was hoisted over Isabela, Mountain province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro Provinces, Lubang Island, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, Bataan, Metro Manila and the rest of Quezon Province.
Ondoy was expected to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains over Central and Southern Luzon and parts of Visayas, Pagasa said.
It advised residents living in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes in areas affected by Ondoy and the southwest monsoon to take necessary precautions against possible flashfloods and landslides.
"Those living along the coast under signals number 2 and 1 are advised to be on alert against big waves generated by the storm," Pagasa added.
Ondoy was forecast to move west northwestward at 19 kilometers per hour. By Sunday morning, it was expected to be 230 kilometers west northwest of Iba, Zambales and at 610 kilometers west northwest of Iba , Zambales by Monday morning.
An average of 20 typhoons and storms enter the Philippines from the Pacific Ocean over the eastern seaboard every year. With a report from Marlon Ramos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:44 am
