Philippines storms surge, flooding thousands amid looming new storm

Uncharted Rivulets: Cainta Residents Drift Through Manila’s Flooded Swell

When relentless rains turned Manila’s Marikina River into a marshland of calf‑deep waters, thousands of families abandoned the creeks nearby for schools, village halls and curtained courtyards. The overflow rose 18 meters — an unprecedented surge that swept an elderly woman and her driver into the river’s current, leaving one body recovered 4.5 kilometers downstream, as Mayor Dale Gonzalo Malapitan confirmed to DZMM.

Floating on the Workforce of Styrofoam and Refrigerators

In the outskirts, the town of Cainta’s humble inhabitants turned everyday household refuse into lifelines. Styrofoam boxes and discarded refrigerators became makeshift floatated vessels, while an 18‑year‑old farmer, Angelo Dela Cruz, chartered a rubber boat he had purchased in preparation for the floods to ferry rice to his aunt’s stall. The boat, rather than a van, was pushed through the flooded path, the farmer insisting, “We needed to keep the rice dry.”

Weathered Wound of a Wipha System

“Tropical Storm Wipha”) and a fresh storm brewed off the coast. Even as floodwaters began to recede, the national weather service signaled the emergence of a low‑pressure zone that would develop into a tropical depression off the east coast. Though it was not projected to make landfall, the depression was expected to drive heavy rain to the Taipei coast through the end of the week.

A Cry of a Floodful City

• 23,000 displaced from Marikina Riverbank overnight.
• 47,000 evacuated from Quezon, Pasig, Caloocan, and the main government district.
• At least 6 confirmed deaths and another 6 missing after Wipha.
• Residents employed styrofoam boxes and abandoned refrigerators as floatation points.
• Farmers like Angelo Dela Cruz used rubber boats to transport goods.

Humanity in the Floodgrasp

“The floods are dangerous,” told Manila street sweeper, 61‑year‑old Avelina Lumangtad, standing beside a flooded thoroughfare. “If the rain will continue… The river will swell.”

Climate Change’s Implication

With at least 20 typhoons or storms each year and the Philippines’ poorest regions facing the stingese of these deluges, climate change is forging deadlier storms. These storms’ escalating ferocity reflects humanity’s growing heat.