GEOGRAPHY - The BEST subject in the World!

You can travel the seas, poles, and deserts and see nothing. To really understand the world you need to get under the skin of the people and places. In other words, learn about geography. I can't imagine a subject more relevant in schools. We'd all be lost without it.
(Michael Palin - Supporter of the Action Plan for Geography)

Saturday, 11 August 2012

Philippines swamped by flood waters

Storms, including Typhoon Haikui have pummelled Western Asia-Pacific, triggering floods.
This video from BBC Weather describes the reasons behind these events:
At least 19 people have died in severe floods in the Philippine capital, Manila, and nearby areas as a result of intense, heavy rainfall over recent days. The capital city of Manila got 504 millimeters (about 20 inches) of rain on Tuesday.

More than 80,000 people are being looked after in emergency shelters, with torrential rain leaving low-lying areas underwater.
Rescuers are using rubber boats to reach stranded people, but some have refused to leave amid fears of looting.
Fuelled by seasonal monsoon rains and a nearby tropical storm, widespread flooding in the Philippines worsened on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, the national disaster agency reported.
A landslide in the Manila suburb of Quezon City buried two houses, leaving nine people dead and four others injured, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre. Three of the dead were children, the state-run Philippines News Agency reported.
Click on the links for a selection of images from recent days showing the impact on people and the environment from Reuters and The Daily Mail

CNN Video report:
The worst hit parts of Manila were mostly the poorest districts, where millions of slum dwellers have built homes along riverbanks and other areas susceptible to flooding. Residents of low-lying slums fled the huge shantytowns, lining Manila's rivers and sewers for the safety of schools, gymnasiums and government buildings as the downpour generated by seasonal monsoons struck overnight.
About 80 per cent of Manila, a sprawling metropolis of about 12 million people, remained inundated on Wednesday, Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, told Reuters news agency.

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