1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Severe flooding hits Manila

September 19, 2014

Tens of thousands of people have fled the Philippine capital following heavy flooding. The extreme weather has severely impacted the region, disrupting transportation and crippling infrastructure.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DFa3
Philippinen Unwetter Überschwemmungen bei Manila
Image: Reuters/R. Ranoco

Emergency authorities in Manila evacuated residents from heavily inundated communities on Friday as quickly rising water levels swamped heavily populated areas.

Tropical Storm Fung-Wong dropped a half month's rain in just six hours overnight, with winds of 85 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour. At least three people have been killed.

"We're dealing with floods over a large area. Our local as well as our national responders are out there leading the rescue operations," Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told the AFP news agency.

Transportation, infrastructure crippled

Civil aviation authorities said at least 40 domestic flights were canceled and six inbound international flights were diverted to different airports. Other flights were delayed.

Flooded streets brought traffic in Manila to a halt, while thousands of ferry passengers were stranded as services were canceled. Presidential spokeswoman Abigal Valte said government work in the capital and 15 other provinces had been suspended.

The city's eastern Marikina river valley appeared to be the worst-affected area. Water levels rose to at least a storey high at heavily populated communities near the river's banks.

Marikina Mayor Del De Guzman said in an interview with GMA TV that 27,000 people had been evacuated from Marikina City.

"We are now on sweeping operations for those trapped by the floods. The rains were so heavy, so fast, some were not able to evacuate," he said, adding that the government was sending amphibious vehicles and boats to help those stranded.

Philippinen Überschwemmungen 19.09.2014
Tens of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate Marikina city due to the floodingImage: Reuters/Erik De Castro

Hard-hit region

Fung-Wong made landfall around noon on Thursday in the northern rice-producing region of Cagayan, weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said. It was expected to leave land late Friday as it headed west northwest towards the South China Sea, he added.

Typhoon Kalmaegi hit the same area last week, killing eight people and displacing more than 366,000. An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines each year.

dr/kms (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)