Philippines, September 26: At least 10 people have been reported dead or missing and more than 1800 forced to evacuate as tropical storm Ketsana lashed the Philippines today, officials and radio reports say.
The government declared Manila and 25 other provinces to be in a “state of calamity,” Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said as heavy rains brought by the storm caused the worst flooding seen in the capital in some 20 years.
A wall weakened by floodwaters collapsed and killed a father and child in Manila while five children drowned in flooding elsewhere in the city, radio station DZMM said.
Three other people were reportedly swept away by a swollen river outside the capital.
Over 1800 people were forced to flee their homes and take refuge in evacuation centres due to rising waters, the civil defence office said.
Flooding was reported in many districts with waters in some areas reaching as high as the rooftops of one-storey buildings.
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.
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who is also in charge of civil defence 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.
The storm, with gusts of 100 kph, is expected to move west across the main island of Luzon before exiting the country early Sunday.
The equivalent of one month’s worth of rain fell on the city in less than a day, according to a government weather forecaster.
One of the three airport terminals in Manila was forced to cancel and divert flights after the flooding hampered its electrical system.
The government weather station said it is weakening and that rains are likely to ease up after sundown.
—Agencies