Floods swamp Metro Manila after hours of relentless rain

Residents of Metro Manila found themselves drenched Wednesday morning as flash floods caused by heavy rains since Tuesday night hit several areas in the metropolis. Floodwaters reached up to neck level in low-lying and flood-prone areas such as Malabon City, according to city public information officer Bong Padua. "Ang pinakamalalim hanggang leeg-tao (The deepest flood levels we monitored was neck-deep)," Padua said in an interview on dzBB radio. Padua said mayor Canuto Oreta cited information reaching his office indicating floodwaters swamped "80 to 90 percent" of the city. Education officials were caught napping as they left to school officials' discretion whether to suspend classes or not. Many city and town governments suspended classes past 6 a.m. Police and traffic aides were noticeably absent from streets as private and public utility vehicles were forced to go slow to prevent their engines from stalling. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)'s flood monitoring unit said at least four major thoroughfares were rendered impassable to light vehicles as of 7 a.m. Wednesday. "Four areas are not passable to light vehicles. They include A. Fernando MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City at 48 centimeters; West Service Road of Villamor in Pasay at 48 cm; area in front of Casino Filipino near the airport at 55 cm; and SM Sucat in Parañaque at 48 cm," Cholo Tomas of the MMDA monitoring center told dzBB radio. He said floods were gutter-deep in many parts of Manila, including Moriones in Tondo at 25 cm; Rizal Avenue corner Cavite Streets at 20 cm; corner of Abad Santos and Tayuman at 15 cm; Corner of Abad Santos and Bambang at 15 cm; R. Papa cor. Rizal Ave. at 25 cm; Abad Santos cor. Solis at 25 cm; and Del Pan cor. Recto at 20 cm. The floodwaters at the corner of R. Papa and Rizal Avenue rose to as high as 35 cm due to heavy rains, Tomas said. He said the MMDA monitored no problem along the usually flood-prone España Avenue in Manila, and Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA). But radio dzBB cited field reports indicated deep floods Aurora Boulevard and in Dimasalang and Maceda Streets in Manila. The Dimasalang area had open manholes, it added. Near City Hall in Manila, floods were gutter-deep but were enough to stall many light vehicles. Pedicab drivers made a killing ferrying passengers along flooded streets, using the sidewalks for their pedicabs. Local residents used benches as makeshift bridges and promptly charged pedestrians for using them. In Valenzuela City, the Tullahan River threatened to overflow and threatened the Nagtahan Bridge. Residents and pedestrians had to use the footbridges temporarily set up to replace the bridge still under repair. - GMANews.TV