Floods, landslides, and weather-related accidents caused by nine days of heavy rain, equivalent to more than a month’s rainfall in some areas, have killed at least 16 people in the northern Philippines, rescuers said on Monday, 10th August.
The prolonged downpours, intensified by tropical storms, have prompted school and government office closures across Luzon, the country’s main island, while flooding has affected streets in the capital, Manila.
Seven of the deaths occurred in the resort city of Baguio after a rain-soaked mountainside collapsed onto three houses, city rescuer Esther Banawe told AFP. Three people remain unaccounted for.
“Rescue efforts are continuing, but they are doing it manually because of the heavy rain,” Esther Banawe said, adding that the work was being supervised by a designated safety officer because of the risk of further landslides.
State weather forecaster Dan Villamil said rainfall in the holiday destination, around four hours north of the capital, had already exceeded the city’s normal total for the entire month by 47%. “The rainfall recorded for 1st-9th Aug was highest in Baguio, with an accumulated 1,413.2mm,” he said, adding that the city’s typical rainfall for August was 963.2mm.
Recovery teams in Baguio remained focused on the three destroyed houses, working cautiously to avoid secondary collapses as the rain continued.
Parts of Metro Manila had recorded rainfall equivalent to around 90% of a typical August total, Villamil added. Flooding forced road closures and prompted the suspension of classes and government work in several areas, although some floodwaters began to recede by Monday evening.
Landslides killed six other people elsewhere on Luzon, while one person drowned, another was struck by a falling tree, and one was electrocuted, according to a civil defence office tally.
While heavy rain continued on Monday evening, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon told a news conference that floodwaters were receding.
“Our interventions are continuing, but we really need to fix the years and decades’ worth of faulty flood mitigation interventions,” Dizon told reporters, referring to a scandal involving alleged bogus flood control projects that have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt, and the archipelago is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year. Millions of people live in disaster-prone areas, leaving many vulnerable to repeated damage and prolonged financial hardship.
The combination of intense rainfall and steep terrain frequently triggers landslides in highland areas such as Baguio.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged, and intense, adding pressure on disaster response systems and efforts to improve flood defences and early warning measures.
Authorities continue to monitor the situation as residual rain falls, while assessments of the damage and reports of missing people are updated.
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