Via The Manila Times.net: ‘Worse than Ondoy’. Excerpt:
Heavy rains and massive floods induced by the southwest monsoon brought memories of the disaster wrought by typhoon Ondoy in September 2009, but many of the people who battled the killer floods observed that the cataclysm that hit the National Capital Region (NCR) and other provinces in Luzon province on Tuesday and yesterday was far worse because while Ondoy killed hundreds, the area affected by this week’s disaster was wider and the number of victims far higher.
Disaster officials said that more than a million people were affected by the floods. Rains and heavy floodings also cut off four major thoroughfares leading to the province of Rizal, a gateway to other Southern Tagalog provinces like Quezon and Laguna, which is now under a state of calamity.
Sixty percent of Metro Manila remained under water and vast tracts of surrounding farmland were also submerged as the deluge stretched into its third day, according to the government.
“The roads in some areas are like rivers. People have to use boats to move around. All the roads and alleys are flooded,” civil defense chief Benito Ramos said after surveying the megacity of 15 million people from the air.
The towns of San Mateo and Rodriguez in Rizal were placed under a state of calamity while in Laguna, Gov. Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito made the same declaration after floods inundated at least 20 towns and four cities.
In the NCR, the cities of Manila, Pasig and Pasay and the town of Pateros were similarly placed under a state of calamity.
