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A Manila resident swims in polluted water as he attempts to salvage items from his destroyed home. Aaron Favila/AP Photo/PA
Flooding

In photos: Philippines battered by Typhoon Saola

At least eight killed and tens of thousands displaced by Pacific storm.
11.55am, 31 Jul 2012
3.9k

TENS OF THOUSANDS battled neck-deep floods in the Philippines today as Typhoon Saola continued to bring heavy rains, with the death toll from the storm rising to eight, officials said.

Heavy downpours battered parts of the country for the third day in a row, forcing the evacuation of more than 145,000 people, said civil defence chief Benito Ramos.

“It will take about four or five days for the waters to recede, assuming the rains stop now. But if it continues to rain, then naturally, these floodwaters will get even higher,” he told AFP.

He warned that the bad weather would last for at least two more days as the floods rose in coastal areas just outside Manila.

In photos: Philippines battered by Typhoon Saola
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  • Philippines

    Fishermen gather empty plastic container from their half-submerge fishing boat following high tide and the storm in Navotas City north of Manila. (AP Photo/Pat Roque/PA)

  • Philippines

    A man assists an elderly woman as they wade through a flooded emergency room at a hospital in Valenzuela city, north of Manila, today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Philippines

    Security guards and staff push a patient on a wheelchair through a flooded emergency room in Valenzuela city, north of Manila. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Philippines

    A Filipino boy plays along a flooded street in Obando town, Bulacan province, north of Manila today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Philippines

    A young girl rides on a bicycle along a flooded street in Valenzuela city. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Typhoon Saola

    NASA image of Typhoon Saola on 30 July, courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

  • Philippines

    A Filipino girl plays with a mock fishing rod outside their flooded home at Valenzuela city, north of Manila today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Philippines

    Residents negotiate a flooded street at Obando town, Bulacan province, north of Manila today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Philippines

    Residents try to salvage pieces of their homes after two empty barges rammed into shanties on stilts at a poor community in Manila yesterday. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)

  • Philippines

    Dozens of shanty houses were destroyed as strong winds and waves made the huge barges to ram shanties nestled along the coastline of Manila's bay. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
  • Fishermen gather empty plastic container from their half-submerge fishing boat following high tide and the storm in Navotas City north of Manila. (AP Photo/Pat Roque/PA)
  • A man assists an elderly woman as they wade through a flooded emergency room at a hospital in Valenzuela city, north of Manila, today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • Security guards and staff push a patient on a wheelchair through a flooded emergency room in Valenzuela city, north of Manila. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • A Filipino boy plays along a flooded street in Obando town, Bulacan province, north of Manila today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • A young girl rides on a bicycle along a flooded street in Valenzuela city. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • NASA image of Typhoon Saola on 30 July, courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
  • A Filipino girl plays with a mock fishing rod outside their flooded home at Valenzuela city, north of Manila today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • Residents negotiate a flooded street at Obando town, Bulacan province, north of Manila today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • Residents try to salvage pieces of their homes after two empty barges rammed into shanties on stilts at a poor community in Manila yesterday. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila/PA)
  • Dozens of shanty houses were destroyed as strong winds and waves made the huge barges to ram shanties nestled along the coastline of Manila's bay. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Schools in some suburban Manila areas and in nearby provinces remained suspended Tuesday, but workers were forced to wade in floods as they struggled to report for work, officials said.

Three more people drowned, another was killed by a falling tree while a fifth was electrocuted while crossing a submerged bridge, adding to the three deaths reported on Monday, according to Ramos.

Rescuers were also searching for four fishermen still missing after two days at sea, he added.

Saola has dumped heavy rains across large parts of the Philippines since Sunday, causing floods and knocking out power lines to more than two million households, officials said.

Power was restored a day later, but some roads and bridges had remained cut off.

NASA satellite image of Typhoon Saola on 30 July. (NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC)

Although Saola did not directly hit the Philippines, its massive rain band exacerbated the effects of a low pressure area in the vicinity. Saola was heading slowly northward to Taiwan, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres (74 miles) an hour near its centre, state weather bureau said.

About 20 storms strike the Philippines from the Pacific every year, causing heavy casualties and damage.

- (c) AFP, 2012. Photo gallery: Press Association Images

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