People paddle a boat past a half-submerged passenger bus along a flooded street in Manila yesterday.
Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines yesterday, triggering floods in Manila and deadly landslides as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.
Rescuers were deployed across the densely populated capital to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers, trapping vehicles.
People clutched flimsy umbrellas as they waded through thigh-deep murky water or used small boats and shopping trolleys to move around.
"The disturbance it caused is great. The waters reached the second floor of our house," Nora Clet, a resident, said.
Restaurant employee Rex Morano said he was not able to work due to the "very high" floodwaters.
A state of calamity was declared for Manila, unlocking funds for relief efforts, after the state weather forecaster warned of "serious flooding" in some areas.
Government offices were shut and classes suspended, more than 100 domestic and international flights were cancelled, and tens of thousands of customers lost power because of the weather.
Some shopping malls and churches offered temporary shelter to people affected.
"Many areas are flooded so we have rescuers deployed all over the city. There is an overwhelming number of people asking for help," Peachy de Leon, a disaster official in suburban Manila, said.
"We were told earlier the rain will not hit us, then the rain suddenly poured so we were quite shocked. There is an ongoing search and rescue now."
More heavy rain was expected today.
Landslides killed a pregnant woman and three children in Batangas province, south of Manila, and a woman and her five-year-old child in Pampanga province, north of the capital, police and disaster officials said yesterday.
President Ferdinand Marcos yesterday ordered disaster response officials to ensure they had sufficient stockpiles of food for the hardest-hit areas because "their situation is critical".
Typhoon Gaemi, which has swept past the Philippines made landfall in Taiwan later yesterday.
Taiwan closed schools and evacuated thousands from their homes ahead of typhoon which authorities said could be "the strongest" to hit in eight years and has already killed two people on the island.
