Flood kills 6 in Philippines, tens of thousands displaced

(Bloomberg) – At least six people died and tens of thousands fled their homes as monsoon rain triggered flooding in the Philippine capital and nearby areas, reminiscent of the deadly Typhoon Ketsana nine years ago.

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About 1.1 million people have been affected by the weekend rain, with 59,100 of them moved to safer ground, the disaster monitoring agency said. President Rodrigo Duterte’s scheduled aerial inspection of flooded areas this afternoon was canceled because of the weather, his communications team said.

Flooding may have worsened by opening of 5 dam gates

Authorities shut schools in Metro Manila and other parts of the main Luzon island but kept financial markets open. Five dams in the island opened their gates at the weekend, according to the weather bureau, which may have worsened the flooding. The judiciary suspended work in the capital from noon on Monday.

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At least four people died in the capital region and two in the northern provinces of Zambales and Benguet, authorities said. In Rizal province, more than 35,000 people were evacuated along with 482 prisoners.

Nearly 400,00 displaced

Monsoon rains enhanced by recent storms in the past weeks have displaced nearly 400,000 people, according to the disaster monitoring agency. The Philippines, among the world’s most disaster-prone countries, experiences about 20 cyclones a year that form over the Pacific Ocean.

In September 2009, Ketsana delivered more than a month’s worth of rainfall on the capital region in a day, the most in more than 40 years. Ketsana affected more than 4.9 million, killed at least 462 people and caused 11 billion pesos ($206 million) of damage to infrastructure, according to government data.

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