Philippines faces severe flooding and damage from Typhoon Gaemi

Much of the Philippine capital, Manila, remained underwater on July 25 following Typhoon Gaemi, which exacerbated torrential monsoon rains across the country.

The disaster has claimed at least 13 lives, displaced over 600,000 people, and caused an oil tanker to capsize off the coast amid strong winds and high waves, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

While the typhoon, known locally as Carina, did not make landfall in the Philippines, its powerful outer bands delivered more than 300 mm (12 inches) of rain to Manila and parts of Luzon. This led to a “state of calamity” being declared in the capital and the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.

Footage from Manila shows people wading through chest-deep water and clinging to overhead power lines as major roads turned into rivers. Families, including those with children wrapped in towels and ponchos, were rescued from flooded homes by disaster response teams.

Floodwaters in some parts of Metro Manila, home to 13 million people, reached as high as one-story buildings, with residents waiting for rescue on roofs. In Rizal province’s Cainta, east of the capital, floodwaters remained waist-deep on July 25.

The southwest monsoon, intensified by the typhoon, continues to wreak havoc even after Gaemi moved north and made landfall in Taiwan as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm caused at least two deaths and injured nearly 300 people in Taiwan, which remains largely shut down with cancelled flights and closed schools and offices. Some areas in Taiwan reported up to 1,219 mm (48 inches) of rain.