Trapped residents are rescued to safety after heavy monsoon rains spawned by tropical storm Fung-Wong flooded Marikina city, east of Manila, Philippines, and most parts of the metropolis Friday, Sept 19, 2014 AP
Trapped residents are rescued to safety after heavy monsoon rains spawned by tropical storm Fung-Wong flooded Marikina city, east of Manila, Philippines, and most parts of the metropolis Friday, Sept 19, 2014 AP
Motorists in Metro Manila, Rizal, and Northern Luzon bore the brunt of tropical storm “Mario” as it brought back memories of the killer storm “Ondoy” in 2009.
The massive flooding from Tropical Storm “Mario” (international name: Fung-Wong) shut down private and government offices, schools, courts and financial markets in the metropolis and sent thousands of residents in low-lying areas to evacuation centers.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said 20 to 25 percent of the metropolis was submerged in floodwaters because of incessant rains.
MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino reported that 15 percent of roads in the capital were rendered impassable to small vehicles by the massive flooding.
Zharina Biong, a staff member at the disaster management unit of the Marikina city government, said more than 27,000 people, most of them living near the swollen Marikina River, had been evacuated since dawn yesterday.
The heavy rain caused the 5th Philippine International Motor Show to close early, at 4pm. Friday. The show re-opens Saturday from 10am and will extend to 11pm.
146 evacuation centers
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 114,250 familes or 513,361 people were affected by Tropical Storm Mario in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and Central Visayas.
NDRRMC Executive Director Alexander Pama said 10,852 families or 40,039 people were staying in 63 evacuation centers and 1,297 families or 6,108 people were seeking shelter in other places as of 2 p.m. Friday.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave higher figures. It said 13,247 families or 61,167 people were staying in 146 evacuation centers in Central and Southern Luzon, Bicol Region, Central Visayas and Metro Manila as of 3 p.m. Friday.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines sent out humanitarian assistance and disaster response teams to help rescue people trapped by rising floodwaters in Metro Manila.
The Philippine Coast Guard also deployed rescue teams to Araneta Avenue and other flooded parts of Quezon City.
In Manila, Mayor Joseph Estrada said some parts of the capital were flooded overnight and residents in a number of slum communities were evacuated to safety, but added that floodwaters were receding because major drainage pipes had been cleared of trash before the onset of the rainy season.
Mario, with maximum winds of 85 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 100 kph, made landfall over the northern tip of Cagayan province at 11 a.m. yesterday, but monsoon rains had been pouring in Metro Manila and surrounding areas since Thursday night.
Weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said 268 millimeters of rain fell over Metro Manila over a period of 24 hours ending early yesterday. That was more than half of the amount of rain that caused massive flooding across the metropolis during Ondoy in 2009, Aurelio said.
Aurelio said Ondoy dumped 455 mm of rain on the metropolis in just six hours on Sept. 29, 2009.
Red warning signal
The Mario rainfall, however, is almost equivalent to a month’s rainfall and Aurelio categorized it as heavy rainfall.
Average rainfall for the month of September is 451.2 mm in Metro Manila.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) placed Metro Manila and adjacent provinces under red warning signals, indicating severe flooding, for several hours yesterday.
But the red warning in the metropolis, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal and Cavite provinces was lowered to orange, indicating only the threat of floods, by early evening.
As of 6 p.m. on Friday, only Zambales, Bataan, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija provinces remained under red rainfall alert.
Laguna, Batangas and Quezon provinces were under yellow alert, indicating the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas.
With reports from DJ Yap, Julie Aurelio, Maricar B. Brizuela, Erika Sauler, Ronnel W. Domingo, Tarra Quismundo, Jerry E. Esplanada, Niña P. Calleja and Riza T. Olchondra in Manila; Villamor Visaya Jr., Gabriel Cardinoza and Leilanie Adriano, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Tonette Orejas, Anselmo Roque, Allan Macatuno and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon; Maricar Cinco, Romulo Ponte, Madonna Virola, Jofel Joyce Lancion and Shiena Barrameda, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Doris C. Bongcac, Inquirer Visayas; AP
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