3 yıl önce

Thousands evacuated as monsoon rains flood parts of Philippines

The Philippines' national disaster agency said that about 15,000 people, most of them from areas prone to flooding in Manila and those in other low-lying provinces, had been moved into evacuation centres.

Reuters

A man on a bicycle wades through a flooded street in Manila, Philippines, July 24, 2021.

Philippine authorities moved thousands of residents in the capital, Manila, out of low-lying communities as heavy monsoon rains, compounded by a tropical storm, flooded the city and nearby provinces.

The national disaster agency said on Saturday that about 15,000 people, most of them from areas prone to flooding in Manila, had moved into evacuation centres.

"We decided to evacuate early," said Luzviminda Tayson, 61.

"We don't want the waters to rise and be caught," said Tayson, one of about 2,90 0 evacuees who were reminded to practice physical distancing as they took refuge in a primary school in Marikina city.

#banjirPHILIPPINES 02. Thousands of people were evacuated in the Philippines as heavy monsoon rain flooded Manila and the nearby areas.

The country was also hit by a 6.6 Earthquake early Saturday.

[RT] #floods #Philippines pic.twitter.com/Pxp1CsVAVJ
— KAWASAN INDUSTRI SADAI (@KawasanSadai) July 24, 2021

Increasing impacts of climate change

Harsh weather has hit nearly all corners of the globe in recent weeks, bringing floods to China, India, and Western Europe and heat waves to North America, heightening fears about the impact of climate change.

The Philippines, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, is hit by about 20 tropical storms a year but a warmer Pacific Ocean will make storms more powerful and bring heavier rain, meteorologists say.

🚨 Nonstop monsoon rains intensified by a passing typhoon have flooded parts of the Philippines. Hundreds of families have been evacuated & people are putting up with floods and heavy rain to get COVID vaccines.

Reparations from the Global North now! Fight for climate justice! pic.twitter.com/k10EkDgXtv
— Fridays For Future MAPA (@FFFMAPA) July 24, 2021

In some parts of the Philippine capital region, an urban sprawl of more than 13 million people, floodwaters rose waist-high in places and cut off roads to light vehicles.

The Philippines is also grappling with one of the worst outbreaks of Covid-19 in Asia and has tightened curbs to prevent the spread of the more infectious Delta variant.

With more than 1.54 million cases and 27,131 deaths, the Philippines has the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections and fatalities in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.

The public works ministry was busy on Saturday clearing debris and landslides from roads in the provinces, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

"Some houses were flooded up to the roof," Humerlito Dolor, governor of Oriental Mindoro province south of the capital, told DZMM radio station.

SOURCE: Reuters