Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by flooding caused by torrential rains. Some regions recorded rainfall equivalent to two months in the space of two days.
“Many (residents) are still stuck on the roof of their homes and asking for help,” said Andre Dizon, the police director of the hard-hit Bicol region, 400 kilometers south of Manila.
“A flash flood”
“We hope the floods subside today as the rain has stopped,” he said. Accessibility remains a major problem for rescuers, President Ferdinand Marcos said at a news conference. “There have been landslides in areas where there were none before […] So I guess the ground is completely saturated and the water has nowhere to go.”
The towns of Naga and Legazpi report “many victims, but we have not yet been able to go there,” said Ferdinand Marcos. In Batangas province, south of the capital Manila, police Chief Sergeant Nelson Cabuso said six bodies had been found in the village of Sampaloc.
“The area was hit by a flash flood yesterday (Thursday). Our teams are still in place to check if there are other victims,” he said.
193,000 people evacuated
Five more people were killed in a flash flood in the coastal village of Subic Ilaya, according to police Corporal Alvin de Leon, bringing the national death toll to at least 60, according to a count taken in based on figures from police and disaster management officials.
In Manila, a housing estate south of the capital was largely submerged. Schools and government offices remained closed on Friday on the main island of Luzon, and storm warnings were still in effect on the west coast, where waves could reach two meters. According to an official count from Thursday, 193,000 people were evacuated due to the floods.
