Major floods in Manila as Typhoon Vamco lashes Philippines

Gulf Today Report

Typhoon Vamco has lashed provinces in the Philippines’ main Luzon island on Thursday.

Trapping people on rooftops and claiming at least one life in another part of the country as the third typhoon to hit the storm-battered Philippines in as many weeks caused major flooding in Manila.

The latest typhoon, which has left three missing in a coastal province, comes as the Southeast Asian country is still grappling with a wave of COVID-19 infections and a battered economy.

Typhoon Vamco gained strength with sustained winds of 135 kilometers (84 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 165 kph (102 mph) before it was forecast to slam ashore into the Polillo islands in Quezon province Wednesday night or early Thursday.

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"A lot of places are submerged. Many people are crying for help," said Rouel Santos, 53, a retired disaster officer in Rizal province, next to the capital.

Quezon and outlying provinces have hardly recovered from the devastation wrought early this month by Typhoon Goni, which blew ashore with destructive super-typhoon force but considerably weakened before blowing out in the South China Sea.

Rescue workers help during an evacuation as Super Typhoon Goni moved towards Manila. File/AFP

One of the strongest typhoons in the world this year, Goni left more than 30 people dead or missing and damaged or destroyed more than 270,000 houses and shanties, many along coastal villages, officials said.

Vamco has now weakened, with sustained winds of 130 kilometres (81 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 215 kph (133.59 mph) as it moves across Luzon, home to half of the Philippines’ 108 million people.

Philippine Red Cross personnel used boats to rescue people stranded in their homes in Marikina City, one of the hardest-hit areas of the capital, where the water in some streets was up to shoulder height.

Photos shared on Twitter by Red Cross chief Richard Gordon showed people being lowered through a hole in a roof while others were helped to climb over a balcony railing into a boat.

"The magnitude of what we're experiencing now is comparable to Ondoy," Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told CNN Philippines.