Heavy rainfall associated with the Southwest Monsoon has been falling in the Philippines since late July, causing flooding and landslides. According to authorities, over 60,000 people have been evacuated at some point.
The city of Baguio in Benguet Province, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has seen persistent heavy rain since 26 July, recording over 1,000 mm between then and 02 August. Iba, capital of the province of Zambales in Central Luzon region recorded 395 mm of rain in 24 hours to 29 July.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Philippines reported on 02 August that 193,345 families or 758,076 persons have been affected by the heavy rain. The regions of Ilocos, Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Mimaropa, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and National Capital Region (NCR) are most affected.
As many as 62,430 people have been displaced over recent days. As of 02 August this figure had fallen, with 34,216 people reported as temporarily staying with friends or relatives and 3,740 people staying in 91 evacuation centres, mostly in Central Luzon
DSWD said heavy rain, floods and landslides have destroyed 177 homes and damaged 672. Twelve roads and a bridge have also been damaged.
ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) reported 1 person was missing.
Wide areas of Bataan province in Central Luzon were flooded from 29 July. Macabebe, Pampanga and Hermosa in Bataan all declared a state of emergency. Dozens of people had to be rescued from floods in the province, in particular in Pilar where teams from the Coast Guard and Fire Department were deployed. Flood waters in the Municipality of Samal were up to 6 feet / 1.8 metres as of 29 July. At one point around 12,327 families or 48,000 individuals in the province were displaced.
