53 Filipinos died of Saola

The total number of people killed in the last flooding week in the Philippines has increased to 53, when the rain continues to pour, causing a spill, thousands of people have to evacuate urgently.

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According to AFP, the number of deaths, previously announced as 45, increased as more bodies of missing people were discovered, said Minister of Civil Safety Nanito Ramos yesterday.

People go by canoe through deep water in Bulacan province yesterday.

6 people are missing, including children swimming despite dangerous weather. Although the Philippines avoided the direct attack of Saola last week, the situation worsened as heavy rains continued to land, even when the storm moved north, far from the island nation.

La Mesa Dam, the main reservoir of the Manila metropolitan area, home to 15 million people, began to overflow from yesterday, leaving schools, financial centers and most government agencies closed. Half of Manila's capital is surrounded by floodwaters.

At least 20,000 people have been evacuated to high places to flee. Before the dam broke, more than 9,000 people crowded in temporary evacuation centers such as schools and basketball courts. More than 268,000 people have evacuated throughout the Philippines. However, many people still pledge in shabby houses by the river. They refused to leave and claimed to be used to living with the flood.

On the outskirts of Quezon City, some places flooded up to the second floor of the buildings, forcing government officials to use rubber boats to reach. The Philippine National Weather Agency warned that heavy rains would continue to last for the next 24 hours and flood levels would rise.