“We’re still on a rescue mode,” said Benito Ramos, who heads the government’s main disaster-response agency. “Floods are receding in many areas but people are still trapped on their roofs.”
Ramos said the massive flooding turned half of Manila into “a water world” on Monday evening and into Tuesday. At least 23 died, including nine in a landslide in a hillside slum in suburban Quezon City and several others who drowned in outlying provinces.
More than 1.2 million people were affected by the deluge, including 783,000 who fled from their inundated homes. With the receding floodwaters, some of the displaced have