Thousands flee homes as fierce tropical storm batters Philippines

Manila, Philippines — 

Philippine rescuers waded done chest-deep floodwaters Wednesday to scope residents trapped by Tropical Storm Trami, which has forced thousands to evacuate arsenic it barrels towards the country's eastbound coast.

Torrential rains driven by the tempest person turned streets into rivers, submerged full villages and buried immoderate vehicles up to their doorway handles successful volcanic sediment knocked escaped by the downpour.

At slightest 32,000 radical had fled their homes successful the bluish Philippines, constabulary said, arsenic the tempest edged person to the Southeast Asian country's main land of Luzon.

In the Bicol region, astir 400 kilometers southeast of the superior Manila, "unexpectedly high" flooding was complicating rescue efforts, said police.

"We sent constabulary rescue teams but they struggled to participate immoderate areas due to the fact that the flooding was precocious and the existent was truthful strong," determination constabulary spokeswoman Luisa Calubaquib told AFP.

Trami's halfway was 310 kilometers eastbound of Aurora state with maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hr arsenic of 8 a.m., the nationalist upwind bureau said.

Photos verified by AFP showed streets submerged by muddy floodwaters successful Camarines Sur province's Bato municipality, with lone the roofs of houses and convenience stores visible.

"It's getting dangerous. We're waiting for rescuers," nonmigratory Karen Tabagan told AFP.

In Naga city, astir 40 kilometers from Bato, fractional of the 600 villages were afloat submerged by flooding.

At an exigency gathering of authorities agencies Wednesday morning, President Ferdinand Marcos said that "the worst is yet to come."

"I'm feeling a small helpless present due to the fact that ... each we tin bash is beryllium tight, wait, anticipation and commune that determination is not excessively overmuch damage, that determination are nary casualties."

Families driven from their homes successful Bicol were staying astatine astir 2,500 evacuation centres scattered crossed the region.

"There was besides a lahar travel successful Albay owed to the rains," Calubaquib, the Bicol constabulary spokeswoman said, referring to the volcanic sediment flowing from the Philippines' celebrated Mayon volcano.

About 20 large storms and typhoons deed the Philippines oregon its surrounding waters each year, damaging homes and infrastructure and sidesplitting dozens of people.