Manila, Philippines— Heavy rain started before dawn on October 29 and did not stop. By mid-morning rivers had jumped their banks across Luzon and parts of the Visayas, pushing brown water into homes, markets and rice fields. Officials ordered evacuations in at least a dozen municipalities.
The national disaster council reported thousands displaced by noon. Families waded out carrying children and plastic bags. Some did not make it out in time. Local mayors confirmed fatalities in three separate flood zones, with numbers still being verified as waters recede.
In Pampanga and Bulacan, rescue boats moved street to street. The water was fast. Power was cut deliberately in several barangays after transformers sparked. A district official said, "We told people to leave last night. Some stayed to guard livestock. Now we are pulling them off roofs."
Evacuation centers filled within hours. Schools turned into shelters. There were not enough mats. The weather bureau said the system brought more than 200 millimeters of rain in six hours in some areas, on ground already saturated from last week's storms.
Roads collapsed. The North Luzon Expressway saw kilometer-long jams as trucks stalled in flood. In one town, a concrete bridge cracked under pressure and was closed. Delivery of food packs slowed. The social welfare department said it had pre-positioned supplies, but access was the problem.
Hospitals reported a surge of injuries. Cuts from debris. Hypothermia. A provincial health officer said, "The water is filthy. We expect infections to rise in the next 48 hours." Emergency crews asked for more rubber boats and clean water.
The storm itself was not a super typhoon. That is the point officials made. It was a slow, heavy system that parked itself over the archipelago. Forecasters warned the same pattern could persist into tomorrow, with more rain aimed at the same watersheds.
By nightfall, the military deployed two more battalions to assist. Rescue operations continued with headlamps. No final count was available. Lists of missing persons were still being collected at municipal halls.
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