No respite from rain, floods in Philippines

By the CNN Wire Staff
August 10, 2012

(CNN) -- The death toll from five days of heavy rains and floods in the Philippines jumped to 60 on Friday, disaster officials said, with the forecast calling for even more showers across the main island of Luzon.

Most of the deaths were from drowning, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. Others died from electrocution or in landslides associated with the rain and floods.

While it is the summer monsoon season in the Philippines, the rain and flooding were exacerbated by recent Tropical Storm Haikui, the Philippines weather service said. Haikui made landfall on the east coast of China early Wednesday.

The disaster council forecast rain over most parts of Luzon, home to the country's capital of Manila, on Friday. Rain in north and central Luzon may trigger flash floods and landslides, it said.

More than 2.4 million people in 144 municipalities have been affected by the weather so far, it said, and more than 3,100 homes have been damaged.

The latest downpours came on top of days of rain that had already drenched the area, with August generally the wettest month of the year. Heavy wind and rain in the past few weeks already left 53 people dead.

It could take days or even weeks for the waters to recede in the lower-lying areas, CNN forecaster Mari Ramos said. There could also be further flooding "downstream" as the water drains through the flood plain in the southern portions of metro Manila near Laguna de Bay.

This is an area that frequently suffers from serious flooding and was one of the hardest hit during the historic flooding that came with Tropical Storm Ketsana (local name Ondoy) in 2009, Ramos said.

The Philippines had already been lashed by heavy rain and wind in recent weeks resulting from Tropical Storm Saola, which plowed past it before hitting Taiwan and China at the end of last week.

In December, Tropical Storm Washi left more than 1,200 people dead after it set off flash floods that swept away entire villages in the southern Philippines.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/09/world/asia/philippines-floods/index.html?hpt=ias_c2