Storm savages Manila

Press, 29 June 1985, Page 10

Storm savages Manila

NZPA-Reuter Manila At least 13 people have been killed, many injured, and thousands made homeless in nearly two days of rain over the northern Philippines. Floodwaters surged through the streets of the Philippine capital, stranding thousands of commuters and snarling traffic as vehicles were abandoned. Water in some places was more than 1.2 metres deep and even roof-top-high in shanty town districts.

The weather department said that more than 38cm of rain had been recorded in central Manila. A spokesman said rain was widespread over much of Luzon but seemed heaviest in the south-west of the island. He said it was a “normal south-west monsoon but intensified by Typhoon Irma.” In Taiwan storm signals were hoisted as Irma headed in from the Pacific. The police reported six people killed and one injured in a landslide outside Olangapo, near the Subic

Bay United States Navy base, 80km north of Manila. The Red Cross said five people were drowned in Bataan province, 80km west of Manila, when fish pond dykes collapsed in the rain. The Red Cross also reported two people drowned in an eastern Manila suburb and said hundreds of families had to leave homes in low-lying areas. “Many people are sitting on roof-tops waiting for help,” a spokesman said.