Philippine rain warning signals lowered

Weathermen on Thursday lowered all rain warning signals with the noticeable improvement in the weather but officials admitted the major problem of attending to the needs of the estimated one million victims of floods that submerged Metro Manila and neighbouring areas due to non-stop continuous monsoon rains has remained. In their advisory issued at noon on Thursday, weathermen said light to moderate rainfall of from one to seven millimetres per hour was observed in the last two hours. “With this development, all rainfall warnings are now terminated,” the state-run weather bureau said. One sign of the improving weather, the bureau said, was that the sun shone lasting from 30 minutes to one hour in some parts after days of continuous and heavy torrential rain that inundated about 80 per cent of Metro Manila and neighbouring areas and converted them into the local version of the Hollywood film “Waterworld.” Despite the improved weather, however, teams continued their search and rescue operations for thousands of victims trapped by floods in their own homes especially those located in low-lying areas and along riverbanks. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported one of the rescue operations was concentrated on a middle-class private housing estate situated along a swollen river named after suburban Marikina City in Metro Manila. About 4000 residents were trapped inside their homes and were forced to seek refuge on the rooftops when the Marikina River overflowed its banks and caused the floodwaters to rise at an alarming rate, officials said. For the second consecutive day, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, accompanied by some Cabinet officials, visited evacuation centers and distributed relief goods to the flood victims. But the more pressing major problem, officials admitted, was how to cope with the needs of the estimated one million Metro Manila flood victims, most of whom are crammed into temporary evacuations centers consisting mostly of public schools and even churches. From:Gulftoday