Three dead, 11 injured as flood waters rise

MANILA, (AP):Torrential rains brought the Philippine capital to a standstill yesterday, submerging some areas in waist-deep flood waters and making streets impassable to vehicles, while thousands of people in northern regions fled to emergency shelters.

Officials reported at least three dead, 11 injured and four missing.

The dead included a 5-year-old boy whose hous was hit by a concrete wall that collapsed. His two adult relatives also were injured.

Schools, offices, the stock exchange, courts and embassies were closed as the weather bureau placed metropolitan Manila, a sprawling area of 12 million people, under red alert. Officials from several flood-hit cities and provinces announced that classes would remain suspended today.

The flooding, following a night of heavy monsoon rains, enhanced by Tropical Storm Trami. The storm hovered over the North Philippine Sea and drenched the main northern island of Luzon with up to 30 millimetres (just over an inch) of rain per hour.

Government weather forecaster Jori Loiz said as of late Monday, Trami was 580 kilometres (360 miles) east of northern Itbayat island, crawling eastward at 7 kilometres per hour (4 mph). It is expected to exit the Philippines by tomorrow or Thursday and move towards China.