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Tropical storm death toll rises to 51 in Philippines

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-27 11:56

MANILA: At least 51 people were killed while 21 others remain missing as tropical storm Kestana hit the Philippines and brought massive flood on Saturday, the government disasters relief agency said Sunday.

Stranded passengers wade at a street flooded by continuous rains brought on by tropical storm Ketsana in Manila September 26, 2009. [Agencies]

Related readings:  Tropical storm hits Philippines  Thousands flee heavy philippines rain, flooding

Rescuers saved more than 4,000 lives and transferred at least 41,205 people from their flooded homes to temporary evacuation centers, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said in its bulletin. Of the fatalities, six were recorded in the national capital while 23 were killed in Tanay, a city to the east of Metro Manila, registering the highest casualties in a single city due to Kestana's devastation.

Ketsana, locally known as Ondoy, made the landfall at northeastern Philippine coast at Saturday noon. It packed winds up to 85 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and is moving west- northwest at a speed of 13 kph. The state weather bureau said the storm triggered an epic rainfall in Metro Manila in six hours ended 2 pm Saturday, breaking the 1967-record of 334 millimeters in a 24-hour period.

TV footage shows an entire village awash in floodwaters in Rizal province, kids swimming in between the half-submerged houses and adults scrambling to retrieve valuables.

The disasters relief agency said 45 barangays (or villages) in the national capital region and 69 villages in just two neighboring provinces were "heavily flooded" while landslide occurred in at least seven areas across the central and southern Luzon island.

The government placed Metro Manila and about two dozen provinces in Luzon region under state of calamity as heavy rains submerged roads and flooded homes.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a statement appealing residents living on the path of Kestana to stay calm while calling on Filipinos nationwide to donate clothes, blankets, food, medicines to the storm victims.