CRISISBOOM

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Filipinos use a makeshift raft to ferry residents in a flooded community in Quezon City, east of Manila yesterday. Thousands fled their homes and seven fishermen went missing as rains brought by tropical storm Meari triggered flooding in the eastern Philippines provinces

Thousands of people fled their homes and seven fishermen went missing as rains triggered flooding in the eastern Philippines, officials said yesterday.
Seven fishermen aboard three motorboats went missing at sea in the eastern province of Catanduanes, 360km south-east of Manila, Police Inspector Ayn Nutuel said.
More than 36,000 people were evacuated from their houses in nearby Albay province because of flooding brought by rains from Tropical Storm Meari, provincial Governor Joey Salceda said.
At least 26 domestic flights in Manila have been cancelled because of the bad weather, which began affecting the country on Tuesday and was expected to generate more rains in large parts of the country until the weekend.
The weather bureau said Meari, with maximum sustained winds of 65km per hour and gusts of up to 80kph, was located yesterday morning 270km north-east of Catanduanes province.
The bureau urged residents in low-lying areas to be on alert for flashfloods and landslides.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Haima hit land in southern Read more…