RP floods leave 53 dead, 77,000 homeless

RP floods leave 53 dead, 77,000 homeless

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines was mopping up yesterday after flash floods left 53 people dead and 77,000 displaced as parts of the country were put on a disaster footing, officials said.

The death toll rose as rescue workers dug through collapsed masonry and the debris of landslides, with several people still reported missing.

Manila residents, who had to wade through waist-high water Monday, were seen sweeping up debris from streets, although some smaller side streets remained under several inches of murky flood waters.

Businesses reopened and operations at Manila airport resumed yesterday, after two days of heavy rains.

Tens of thousands of people whose homes were threatened by the floodwaters have been evacuated to evacuation centers, the national disaster coordinating council said.

Teams of health workers have been sent to the evacuation centers to monitor the situation particularly in those areas worst hit, Health Secretary Carmencita Reodica said.

The weather bureau said the tropical depression was moving away from the northern Philippines, although southwest monsoon rains were expected in the next few days.

"Metropolitan Manila is getting a break. We don't expect rains as bad as yesterday," Nancy Alega, forecasting supervisor of the Philippine weather bureau told AFP.

But parts of the country were already battening down for typhoons and monsoon rains.

Defense Secretary Renato de Villa said he would ask President Fidel Ramos to expand those places listed as disaster areas which will give them top priority in government aid efforts.

"Some of these areas are already recovering as of this date. We're hoping the recovery will continue so we can proceed to normalize everything within the next 24 hours," de Villa said.

Manila international airport struggled to clear a backlog as passengers who missed flights Monday were flown out on available flights yesterday.

Chaos reigned at the airport Monday as floodwaters entered the airport's electro-magnetic circuit room, causing damage and tripping power.

The death toll mounted with eight more fatalities reported from Subic, northwest of Manila, a local official said in an interview over radio DZMM.

Four of the eight people were buried in a landslide at the height of Monday's rains, two drowned, one man who was electrocuted and another who suffered a heart attack at an evacuation center. Three children were missing in the landslide.

Four teenagers also died Sunday, while 16 others were injured in Lubao, north of here, after being hit by a drunk driver during a religious procession amid heavy rains, provincial police investigator Mario Dulin said.