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Torrential monsoon rains worsened by a tropical storm flooded large swathes of the Philippine capital and nearby provinces Friday, leaving at least three people dead and displacing tens of thousands just days after the region was drenched by a typhoon.

Floods shut down Philippine capital and nearby provinces, at least three killed and tens of thousands evacuated


Dalia Ibrahim
Digital Reporter

Friday, September 19, 2014, 11:55 AM - Torrential monsoon rains worsened by a tropical storm flooded large swathes of the Philippine capital and nearby provinces Friday, leaving at least three people dead and displacing tens of thousands just days after the region was drenched by a typhoon.

Heavy rains due to a storm and the seasonal monsoon have caused widespread flooding in the Philippine capital and nearby provinces, shutting down schools and government offices. 

Local officials interviewed on radio reported hundreds were evacuated early Friday from severely inundated communities, some under rapid-flowing flood waters more than neck high.


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Authorities said more than 470,000 residents of Metro Manila and other provinces were affected in severely inundated communities. At least 37,000 people in the capital were displaced in one of the worst floods in the sprawling metropolis of 12 million in recent years. 

Over 2,700 people in nearby provinces were also displaced by the floods, said Civil Defense chief Alex Pama. 

Manila airport authorities say the rains and a broken radar caused delays and the cancellation of at least 28 domestic flights to and from northern and central Philippines affected by Tropical Storm Fung-Wong. At least three international flights heading to Manila were diverted to Clark International Airport in northern Pampanga province.


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Presidential spokeswoman Abigal Valte says that work in government offices in the capital and 15 other provinces has been suspended. 

Meteorologist Aldczar Aurelio said Tropical Storm Fung-Wong, which made landfall in northern Cagayan province with top winds of 100 km/h, enhanced the seasonal southwest monsoon winds and clouds from the Indian Ocean and Australia and dumped heavy rain over the capital area.

He said 268 mm of rain fell on the capital within a 24-hour period ending early Friday. The volume was more than half the amount of rainfall that caused massive flooding in the capital in 2009, the worst in 40 years. 

Government offices in the capital and 15 provinces were closed and the Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading. 

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said residents of a number of slum communities were evacuated to safety.


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The storm was expected to leave Philippine territory by Sunday and make a sharp turn northward toward Taiwan and southern Japan. 

Last week, Typhoon Kalmaegi hit the same northern Philippine region, leaving eight people dead and displacing over 366,000.

With files from Th Associated Press and CNN

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