|
At least 140 people have been killed and scores are missing after
tropical storm brings worst flooding for four decades * Matthew Weaver and agencies
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 September 2009 13.11 BST Floods in Manila brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana A Filipino boy is carried to safety through floodwater in Manila. The Philippines called today for international help as it sought to deal
with the aftermath of a tropical storm that triggered the deadliest
flooding in the country for 40 years.
At least 140 people were confirmed dead and another 32 were missing
after the weekend flooding in and around the capital, Manila. Officials
fear further bad weather could compound the situation. Gilbert Teodoro, the defence secretary, said help from foreign
governments would augment relief work already started by army troops,
police and civilian volunteers. He said welfare agencies had begun to provide food, medicine and other
help to more than 115,000 people in government-run emergency shelters. It is feared the death toll could increase significantly as rescue
workers come to terms with the scale of the disaster, which happened
when tropical storm Ketsana tore through the northern Philppines on
Saturday. Teodoro estimated that 435,000 people had been displaced by
the storm. He told a press conference the official death toll excluded a reported
95 deaths in Antipolo City, east of Manila, and in Marikina City and
Quezon City, two of the northern municipalities of metropolitan Manila. Ketsana brought more than a month's worth of rain in 12 hours, swamping
towns, sparking landslides and leaving neighbourhoods in Manila under water. Amateur video footage showed cars swirling like driftwood in the
floodwater. Stranded passengers waited to be rescued on the roof of one
vehicle. The government declared a "state of calamity" in metropolitan Manila and
25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to use emergency funds for
relief and rescue. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the president, today opened up the presidential
palace as an emergency centre for victims. She said the storm and flooding were "an extreme event" that "strained
our response capabilities to the limit but ultimately did not break us". Joselito Mendoza, the governor of Bulacan province, north of the
capital, said: "People drowned in their own houses." Ronald Manlangit, a 30-year-old resident of the Manila suburb of
Marikina, said: "We're back to zero. Suddenly, all of our belongings
were floating. If the water rose farther, all of us in the neighbourhood
would have been killed." Footage taken from a military helicopter yesterday showed survivors
marooned on top of half-submerged buses and roofs in suburban Manila. Some were clinging to power lines while others plodded through
waist-high waters.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites  |
