By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-23 03:12:01 | Updated at 2024-10-23 05:33:10
2 hours ago
Torrential rain set off by an approaching tropical storm swamped eastern Philippine cities and towns overnight in widespread flooding that trapped people, some on their roofs, and sparked frantic appeals for rescue boats and trucks, officials said on Wednesday.
The government shut down public schools and government offices, except those urgently needed for disaster response, on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people as Tropical Storm Trami blew closer from the Pacific.
The storm was about 310km (193 miles) east of Baler in the northeastern province of Aurora with sustained winds of 85 kilometres (53 miles) per hour and gusts to 105kph (65mph). It was forecast to hit Aurora’s coast on Wednesday night.
Thousands of villagers have evacuated to emergency shelters in northeastern provinces, and storm warnings were raised in more than two dozen northern and central provinces, including in the densely populated capital of Manila. No fatalities or major injuries have been reported.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr cancelled all his appointments on Wednesday “to focus on coordinating the government’s comprehensive search and rescue and relief efforts” and would convene an emergency meeting at military headquarters to discuss disaster-mitigation efforts, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez said.
“People have been stuck on roofs of their houses for several hours now,” former vice-president Leni Robredo, who lives in the northeastern city of Naga, said in a post on Facebook early Wednesday. “Many of our rescue trucks have stalled due to the floods.”
Robredo expressed hopes the flooding would ease at low tide on Wednesday morning.
