250,000 flee homes as floods paralyze Philippine capital

PanARMENIAN.Net - Half of Manila was under water and 250,000 people fled their homes Tuesday, August 7 as torrential rain paralysed the city, sweeping away houses, stranding residents on rooftops and triggering a landslide, AFP said.

At least 15 people were confirmed dead as the sprawling metropolis and nearby provinces suffered the most extensive floods since a typhoon that killed hundreds three years ago.

Schools, financial markets and most government and private offices were shut as key roadways in the capital -- a city of some 15 million people -- were submerged by waters that in some areas reached neck-deep.

As local television flashed live footage of rampaging rivers carrying off houses and residents marooned on the roofs of their homes, President Benigno Aquino said the government was doing everything it could to help.

Bad weather from seasonal southwest monsoons has been pounding Manila and nearby areas for over a week. Meteorologists said the crisis in the capital came as over half a month's rain fell on the city in 24 hours.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said that more than 800,000 people had been affected, with 18,600 in government evacuation centres and some 231,000 seeking refuge with friends or relatives.

Tuesday's deaths brought the number of people killed by the monsoon rains across the Philippines to 68 over the past week, according to civil defence officials.