MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Monsoon rains worsened by an offshore typhoon have left at least eight people dead and displaced more than 600,000 people due to flooding and landslides mostly in the southern and central Philippines.
Typhoon Gaemi, locally called Carina, did not blow inland in the Philippines but has enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains. On Wednesday morning, the typhoon was east of Taiwan with 162 kph (100 mph) winds.
In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended Wednesday after nonstop rains flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwater and stranding people in their homes. Residents who ventured out of their homes waded into knee- and waist-high floodwaters iwith some using improvised dinghies and paddling their way alongside cars, trucks and SUVs.
“I have instructed all concerned agencies to provide swift assistance to all those affected by Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement he posted on the X social media platform.
While the typhoon and an earlier storm did not blow inland, the intense rains they enhanced in the past five days have set off at least a dozen landslides and floods that have caused eight deaths and displaced more than 600,000 people, including 35,000 who went to emergency shelters, the Philippines’ disaster risk mitigation agency said.
The Philippine coast guard said more than 350 passengers and cargo truck drivers and workers were stranded in seaports after ferries and cargo ships were prohibited from venturing into rough seas. It added that coast guard personnel helped more than 200 residents evacuate a coastal village in Batangas province south of Manila where storm-tossed waves have hit coastal houses.
In Taiwan, the approaching typhoon prompted the cancellation of air force drills off Taiwan’s east coast on Tuesday, and ferries and some domestic flights were canceled.