The worst flooding since 2009 has swamped major streets in Manila and nine provincial areas around the city, as rescue workers used rafts and boats to try to rescue people trapped on rooftops or in buildings. As my colleague Floyd Whaley writes, more than 50 people have been killed and at least 250,000 have been evacuated in the last week in the flooding, which was set off by a series of storms and monsoon rains.
As the deluge paralyzed urban areas, shutting down transportation and making it difficult for services to be distributed, residents turned to social media to call out for help and to pinpoint with names and addresses the locations of those trapped. Residents considered most at need were highlighted, like pregnant women, children and the elderly. Ho spitals were in need of supplies as power dwindled.
74 yrs old lady trapped at 17 kapiligan st araneta subd qc. All grilled windows locked water already at 2nd floor. #rescuePH help! RT
- Shopinas.com (@shopinas) 7 Aug 12
UERM really needs help!! Flood is almost at 3rd floor where the nursery is. No rescuers the whole day. #RescuePH
- More Fun in FEU (@TagaFEUKaKung) 7 Aug 12
The flooding was the worst to strike the Philippines since 2009, which Filipinos called their Hurricane Katrina, a reference to the flooding in New Orleans after the storm in 2005. Hurricane Katrina rescuers were directed to pleas for help daubed on the walls and shouted from rooftops at boats or low-flying helicopters.
Typhoons Ketsana and Parma struck Manila within a one-week period in 2009.
The Philippine government documented rescue requests through Google to help w ith its efforts in this flooding, which officials are concerned could get worse.
As Mr. Whaley notes in his story, Manila, which is home to more than 10 million people, is particularly vulnerable because it is cradled in a low-lying area between a large lake and the ocean.
That has meant that La Mesa Dam, north of the city, has crested in recent days, forcing officials to open gates that released additional water. This, combined with high tides, has left urban areas swelling with water from the southern lake, the ocean to the west and an overflowing river down the center.
Photographs online show people clinging to wreckage or pulling themselves along rope to apparent safety. Some inched along sagging power lines like tightrope walkers.
The Philippines Red Cross said it was monitoring the water level of La Mesa Dam, which has reached an “alert†level. The organization said it has rescued 250 people in at least three areas, using rubber boats and ve hicles. It said it was working around the clock, with 63 evacuation centers serving about 8,000 people so far.
Follow Christine Hauser on Twitter @christinenyt.
