RESCUERS FROM the army and civilian agencies struggled for a second day yesterday to reach flood victims in the Philippines after a tropical storm struck the main island of Luzon, leaving at least 73 dead and displacing 337,000 people.
Hundreds of people remained stranded on the rooftops of their flooded homes in several low-lying residential districts in the capital, Manila, as authorities scrambled to borrow motorised rubber boats to add to those being used by the navy, coast guard and local governments.
By last night more than 5,000 people had been rescued. Some 68,550 people were being housed in 118 evacuation centres, the government’s disaster management agency said. However, delays in the rescue of flood victims in the capital triggered a wave of anger directed at the government and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is already suffering from record-low popularity ratings.
Television reports showed people still on rooftops, waving and shouting for food, water and warm clothes, while army and civilian helicopters dropped food and relief goods. Radio and TV stations were also airing messages from flood victims. Some bloggers were posting links to an old news report about an opposition politician’s claim that some of the budget for disaster preparedness and mitigation were diverted for the president’s travels abroad.
“We’re doing our best to get to all those people still trapped by the flash flood,” said Anthony Golez, Ms Arroyo’s spokesman, after a briefing of the national disaster co-ordinating council.
The lack of government rescue vessels prompted the president of San Miguel, the country’s biggest food and drinks company, to offer yesterday to buy up to 50 motorised boats for the rescue operations. – Copyright The Financial Times 2009