Thousands Flee as Seniang Battered Southern PHL with Floods

Butuan – Thousands of people were evacuated after heavy floods hit southern Philippines on Monday as a tropical storm battered the region with strong winds and heavy rains, report said.

Officials said in Surigao del Sur province where the storm first hit land before dawn, 4,000 were moved to temporary shelters.

Governor Johnny Pimentel reportedly said the rains are very strong and there has been no let-up in the last three days.

Pimentel added there were no immediate reports of casualties but as many as 6,000 more people may have to be evacuated during the day, he said over GMA News Online report.

He said flood waters as deep as five feet (1.5 meters) were reported in some areas as rescuers in rubber boats rushed to aid residents trapped in their homes adding that the storm’s winds had felled trees and blown roofs off shanties.

Seniang was forecast to bring “heavy to intense” rains within its 300-kilometer (186-mile) diameter, as it packed wind gusts of 80 kilometers (50-mile) per hour, report said.

The storm, moving west at 11 kilometers (seven miles) per hour, is expected to cross the central Philippines in the next two days.

The Manila airport authority said in a statement said some flights from the capital to the region were canceled on Monday.

Source: GMA News Online