Torrential rains have swept the Philippine capital of Manila submerging much of the city Tuesday. Nearly 270,000 people have had to flee their homes. More flooding is expected in the north of the Philippines as the tropical storm passes through.
There have been steady rains in the area for the past ten days that have killed more than 50 people. The rains are caused from tropical storm "Haiku" which originated in the Philippine Sea which is northeast of Taiwan. 250,000 people have been evacuated from China's Zhejiang province where the storm is headed.
Major businesses, financial markets, schools and offices were ordered shut as half of Manila was covered with floods which went to as high as three meters and got worse by a high tide as well as the release of water from dams in surrounding areas.
The rains have created more than 12 inches of rain, which is three times the daily average and the heaviest the country has seen in three years.
Most of Manila's major roads were covered in flood waters and many flights were delayed or canceled. Temporary shelters have popped up around the city. Ester Ronabio, a public school teacher and volunteer at a center in the eastern part of Manila said to Reuters, "There are about 5,000 people here. We can't control the flow of people."
Most major roads in Manila were inundated by knee- to waist-deep flood waters. Some flights were delayed or canceled. Power, water and communications in flooded areas were disrupted.
A few years ago Typhoon Ketsana affected the region and killed more than 700 people and destroyed $1 billion worth of public and private property. Some are worried that this could be a repeat. "The floods are so deep where we live, we don't want a repeat of Typhoon Ketsana a few years ago," Melanio David, told Reuters. "We got scared so we evacuated last night."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
