MANILA – Torrential rain set off by an approaching tropical storm swamped eastern Philippine cities and towns overnight in widespread flooding that trapped people, some on their roofs, and sparked frantic appeals for rescue boats and trucks, officials said Wednesday.
The government shut down public schools and government offices — except those urgently needed for disaster response — on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people as Tropical Storm Trami blew closer from the Pacific.
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At least person died after being hit by a fallen tree branch in central Masbate province while seven others were reported missing, including three men who sailed to fish in the high seas from Masbate but haven’t returned, officials said.
The storm was about 310 kilometers (193 miles) east of Baler town in the northeastern province of Aurora with sustained winds of 85 kilometers (53 miles) per hour and gusts to 105 kph (65 mph). Its wide rain band could dump up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rainwater in one day of intense downpours in the most vulnerable provinces on its path, according to state forecasters.
The storm was forecast to hit Aurora’s coast Wednesday night to early Thursday, then barrel across northern Luzon’s mountain range, valleys and plains before exiting to the South China Sea later in the week, they said.
Thousands of villagers have evacuated to emergency shelters in northeastern provinces, and storm warnings were raised in more than two dozen northern and central provinces, including in the densely populated capital of Manila, which was not in the storm’s direct path but could be lashed by its pounding rains.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. canceled all his appointments Wednesday and convened an emergency meeting in military headquarters to discuss disaster mitigation efforts, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez said.
During the meeting, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the military’s aircraft and ships would be used for evacuations and disaster response. He said additional airlift power could be provided by friendly countries, including Singapore, if needed.
“People have been stuck on roofs of their houses for several hours now,” former Vice President Leni Robredo, who lives in the northeastern city of Naga, said in a post on Facebook early Wednesday. “Many of our rescue trucks have stalled due to the floods.”
Robredo expressed hopes the flooding would ease at low tide Wednesday morning when swollen rivers could flow out faster into the sea.
Coast guard personnel have been rescuing residents in flooded villages in the eastern provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes and outlying regions since Tuesday, but provincial authorities said the number of rescue boats and personnel was not enough.
Thousands of passengers and cargo workers were stranded in several seaports after the coast guard said it suspended inter-island ferry services and barred fishing boats from venturing into the increasingly rough seas.
"We need national intervention,” Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur province told DZRH radio network, saying his flood-prone province has about 50 rescue boats but needs about 200 due to the widespread appeals from villagers to be rescued.
Thousands of villagers were evacuated from low-lying communities and landslide-prone areas starting two days ago in Camarines Sur but many more were asking for help.
“Last night, my phone was filled with nonstop calls and text messages from people pleading 'Help us, rescue us,’” Villafuerte said. “It’s sad when you feel helpless because of this deluge of problems.”
In nearby Quezon province, Governor Angelina Tan said floods in some areas reach up to 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) and at least 8,000 villagers have evacuated from low-lying communities.
About 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year. The archipelago also lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million in the central Philippines.