By Cushla Devenish-Meares
The Philippines had another storm attack on Wednesday. The tropical storm swept across the Philippines causing landslides in the north and heavy rains fall on the already battered capital. The storm hit the northeast of the main island of Luzon before dawn. Dumping up to 35 millimeters (14 inches) of rain on a vast farming region, reports the state weather bureau. Towards the south, residents were trying to recover from the devastating floods of last week, including Manila, which also endured strong rains, prompting authorities warn residents in low-lying areas of the capital to be ready to evacuate. The worst hit areas of Wednesday storm were four small northern farming towns, where water reached neck-deep in some areas and landslides cut off a major highway, said Melchito Castro, civil defense chief in the region “we have been experiencing really heavy rains since last night, and out rescuers have evacuated some residents,” Castro says.
Two men suffocated to death in a tunnel when a landslide hit a gold-rush site near the northern mountain resort of Baguio on Wednesday, while two other people drowned, authorities said. The new fatalities bring the numbers of people who have died to a 99 across Luzon due to the storm since civil defense chief for northeastern Luzon, said authorities there were closely watching the rising waters of the Cagayan river, the country’s largest river basin amid fears it could overflow.