| Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Floods shut down Philippine capital | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: 19 Aug 2013, 11:48 PM (98 Views) | |
| skibboy | 19 Aug 2013, 11:48 PM Post #1 |
|
19 AUGUST 2013 Floods shut down Philippine capital ![]() A pedicab driver wades through a flooded street in Manila on August 19, 2013, after heavy rain hit the Philippine capital. ![]() Graphic map showing Luzon and the Philippine capital of Manila where waist-deep flooding on Monday shut down schools, government officies and the stock exchange. ![]() A passenger jeepney makes its way down a flooded street in Manila on August 19, 2013 as heavy rains hit the Philippine capital. ![]() A motorcyclist tries to ride along a flooded street in Manila on August 19, 2013. AFP - Torrential rain shut down most of the Philippine capital Monday as neck-deep water swept through parts of Manila, while floods in northern farming areas claimed at least one life. Schools, government offices and the stock exchange in the megacity of 12 million people closed as a red alert was raised, the highest level of a warning system in which widespread floods are predicted. "We are trying to save whatever we can. But it was so sudden," J.R Pascual, a father-of-four, told AFP as he tried to take the most important possessions from his home that was flooded up to his waist. "My neighbour wasn't even able to get his car out." Pascual lives in a middle-class district of Cavite, which is about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the heart of Manila. Roads from Cavite into the city were impassable, while some motorists who tried to get through the flooded streets were forced to abandon their cars. Some commuters on public transport were also stranded, and had to wade through muddy, trash-filled water to find higher ground. "I didn't know they had suspended work," said factory worker Karisa Merin, 33, as she stood marooned on a footpath. Footage on ABS-CBN showed people in shanty town communities standing on their corrugated iron roofs, as fast-moving water swept through the windows of their homes. Farming and mountainous areas hundreds of kilometres to the north of Manila on the main island of Luzon were also badly flooded, according to the government's disaster management council. It reported some areas were enduring floods of 1.2 metres (four feet), following persistent rain that began at the weekend. At least one person died in a flood-related car accident and two people were missing in the north, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported. The flooding was due to the normal monsoon being exacerbated by Tropical Storm Trami, which was causing problems despite being more than 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Philippines, weather forecasters said. The Southeast Asian archipelago endures about 20 major storms or typhoons annually, generally in the second half of the year and many of them are deadly. In August last year, 51 people died and two million others were affected when more than a month's worth of rain was dumped in and around Manila in 48 hours. One of the most devastating storms to hit the capital was in 2009, when Tropical Storm Ketsana led to 80 percent of the capital being submerged. It was immediately followed by Tropical Storm Parma, and more than 1,100 people died in the back-to-back disasters. Chaotic urban planning is widely blamed for exacerbating the impacts of storms in Manila and other parts of the country, which has had to deal with massive population growth over the past generation. Widespread deforestation, the conversion of wetlands to farms or cities, and the clogging up of natural drainage systems with garbage are some of the factors that worsen floods. The deadliest storm in the world last year occurred in the Philippines, when Typhoon Bopha left more than 1,000 dead and 800 others missing in the south of the country. The southern areas are usually spared from the typhoons, and communities there were unprepared for Bopha. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 20 Aug 2013, 11:41 PM Post #2 |
|
20 AUGUST 2013 Heavy rain pummels flooded Philippines ![]() Residents ride on a bamboo raft over floodwaters in the farming town of Novaleta, on August 19, 2013. ![]() Graphic map showing the Philippines capital where torrential rains have closed schools and offices for the second consecutive day. AFP - Torrential rain relentlessly battered the flood-soaked Philippine capital and surrounding farming areas on Tuesday, raising fears this week's monsoon death toll would climb well above three. Schools and government offices in Manila and many neighbouring regions were closed for a second consecutive day, as floods swelled high into urban as well as rural homes. The state weather agency warned the rain would continue through Tuesday, issuing its top level red alert for Manila and neighbouring provinces. The red alert means "serious flooding" is likely in low-lying areas, and more than three centimetres (1.8 inches) of rain is expected every hour. Three people had already been confirmed killed and four others were missing due to the rains, according to the government's disaster agency's latest tally on Monday night. Most of the victims were in the mountainous north of the main island of Luzon, more than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Manila. The heavy rains were due to the seasonal monsoon being exacerbated by Tropical Storm Maring, which was hovering to the north of the Philippines. The Southeast Asian archipelago endures about 20 major storms or typhoons annually, generally in the second half of the year and many of them deadly. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 22 Aug 2013, 01:46 AM Post #3 |
|
Philippine floods cause more chaos in waterlogged Manila By Jethro Mullen, CNN August 21, 2013 ![]() Boys looks out from their house after days of torrential rains along a waterway in Las Pinas on August 21. (CNN) -- Heavy rain continued to lash the northern Philippines on Wednesday, a day after flooding put more than half of the Manila region under water. The relentless monsoon rains, intensified by a tropical storm at sea, have so far led to eight deaths. More than 280,000 people have fled from their homes, authorities said. The muddy flood waters have swamped roads and buildings, bringing life in many areas to a standstill. La Mesa Reservoir, in a densely populated area of the Manila region, is overflowing, the national disaster agency reported, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents from surrounding neighborhoods. The water at several other dams in the region is near critical levels, it said. More than 500 areas across 78 municipalities and cities on the main island of Luzon have been reported as flooded, the disaster agency said Wednesday. A state of calamity has been declared in three provinces, three cities and eight municipalities, it said. Widespread disruption Brought about by days of fierce rain, floods have disrupted air and land transportation, and caused the closure of schools, businesses and nonemergency government offices. At one point Tuesday, as much as 60% of the Manila metropolitan region was flooded, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report. The region, known as Metro Manila, has about 12 million residents. The waters later subsided, leaving about 20% of Metro Manila under water, the U.N. office said. 'It was raining nonstop' Lorie Pascua, said she and her family had been trapped since Monday in their house in Cavite, one of the hardest hit provinces near Manila. "The water in our village surrounding our house was over six feet high for three days." she said. "It was raining nonstop." Pascua, 75, said the family's house wasn't flooded but the waters around it prevented them from leaving. Residents living along a creek in the family's area of the city of Bacoor had to be relocated to dry ground, she said. "It floods here all the time but this is the worst so far," Pascua said. Lighter rain The rainfall across the northern Philippines appeared to be less intense Wednesday compared with previous days. Trami, the tropical storm that exacerbated the monsoon rains over Luzon in recent days, has moved farther away from the Philippines in the past 24 hours. The storm is forecast to brush past northern Taiwan on Wednesday and make landfall in the Chinese province of Fujian on Thursday. But Pagasa, the Philippine national weather agency, still issued a "Yellow Rainfall Advisory" on Wednesday that forecast "moderate to heavy rains" for Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Flooding remains a risk in low-lying areas, according to the agency. Pascua said it was still raining in Bacoor on Wednesday, but not continuously. The water levels have subsided to knee-level, she said, but the family is still unable to venture out to get supplies. Pascua said her family members had been surviving on the food left in their fridge until they received some rations Wednesday. An annual disaster The national disaster agency reported that eight people have died as a result of the rain and floods in Luzon, mostly by drowning. Four more people are missing and 41 have been injured, it said. About 281,000 people have had to leave their homes and seek shelter with friends and relatives or in evacuation centers, the council said. Images showed displaced people using the pews in a church in Quezon City, part of Metro Manila, as makeshift beds. The pouring rain and rising water are grimly familiar to Manila residents as August is generally the area's wettest month. Severe flooding in the region a year ago, also caused by monsoon rains, killed scores of people. CNN's Kathy Quiano contributed to this report. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 24 Aug 2013, 12:13 AM Post #4 |
|
23 AUGUST 2013 600,000 still homeless after Philippine floods ![]() A girl babysits her brother inside a temporary shelter at a basketball gym in Calumpit, north of Manila, on August 22, 2013. ![]() A boy uses a plastic basin to float along a flooded street in the town of Calumpit, north of Manila, on August 22, 2013. AFP - An estimated 600,000 people in the Philippines remained at temporary shelters or with relatives on Friday after days of heavy rain that killed 20, officials said. A day after floods ebbed in the capital Manila, stagnant pools of water and high tides in coastal areas prolonged the misery in the central Luzon plains to the north, civil defence official Josefina Timoteo told AFP. "These are mainly farmers and fisher folk who still cannot return to their homes or resume work. We are still supplying their needs," said Timoteo, the civil defence chief for the region. "These are low-lying regions and this happens every year. It is a way of life for many of them and the local governments are well-organised to provide relief." Seasonal monsoons dumped more than a month's rain in Manila and surrounding provinces between Sunday and Wednesday, the state weather service said, submerging about half the capital in floodwaters. The rains were worsened by Tropical Storm Trami, which hit China on Thursday after hovering off the northern Philippines earlier in the week. The government's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 200,000 people were still in government-run shelters Friday, with 400,000 others staying with friends or relatives and likewise receiving food rations and other emergency aid. The council raised the death toll to 20 as receding floodwaters led to the discovery of two bodies in Cavite province, south of Manila. Most of those who have yet to return home are from the central Luzon region, where 481 villages remain under floodwaters up to a metre (3.3 feet) deep, Timoteo said. The weather is improving but the evacuation centres, mostly schoolbuildings, are expected to start emptying only next week, she added. As a result, classes are still suspended in those areas, she said. The health department has stocked up medicines at evacuation camps to prevent the spread of epidemics, she said, adding there had been no reports of widespread diseases. The floods wreaked 97.3 billion pesos' ($2.2 billion) worth of damage to infrastructure and crops, the government says. The Philippines endures about 20 major storms or typhoons annually, generally in the second half of the year and many of them deadly.
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
|
|
| « Previous Topic · Flooding · Next Topic » |
















9:33 AM Jul 11