Floods hit parts of Metro Manila Wednesday due to heavy rains brought on by typhoon Karen (international codename Nuri), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said.
The MMDA said knee-level floods hit General San Miguel in Caloocan City and BB McArthur Highway in Valenzuela. Floods also hit Barangays Talayan and Maria Clara in Quezon City, rendering them impassable to light vehicles.
All types of vehicles can still pass Ortigas Avenue and Biak-na-Bato, which were submerged in gutter-deep floods.
The latest weather bulletin from PAGASA showed that the typhoon continued to batter parts of Northern Luzon as it moved west northwest towards Hong Kong.
PAGASA said Karen maintained its strength of 140 kilometers per hour winds at the center and gusts of up to 170 kph as it crossed the Babuyan Channel. As of 10 a.m., the typhoon was 50 kilometers north of Aparri, Cagayan and is expected to be 320 km northwest of Laoag City Thursday morning.
PAGASA said Storm Signal no. 3 remains in effect over Cagayan, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Batanes, Babuyan Group of Islands and Calayan Group of Islands.
Signal no. 2 remains hoisted over Isabela, La Union, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Ifugao. Signal no. 1 is hoisted over Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Quirino and Aurora.
The weather bureau said the typhoon is expected to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains over Luzon especially in the Western and Western Visayas. Residents along the coastal areas under Public Storm Warning Signal Number 2 and 3 are alerted against big waves and storm surges generated by this tropical cyclone.
Classes were suspended on all levels in Metro Manila and other parts of northern and Central Luzon Wednesday. Anthony Golez, deputy administrator of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, said provincial capitals in Luzon had been forewarned about the typhoon and that contingencies had been prepared.
The Philippines is battered by an average of 20 typhoons a year, some of them devastating. Nuri is the 12th to hit the archipelago this year.
In June, a ferry carrying over 800 people sailed into the path of Typhoon Fengshen and sank in the central Philippines. There were only 57 survivors and many of those who perished still remain trapped inside the hull of the ferry. With Agence France-Presse