Philippine flood deaths climb to 60
PHILIPPINES: Weary farmers in the Philippines' farming
heartland struggled amid their worst floods in decades on Friday, as the
death toll from torrential rains that also pounded the capital rose to
60.
The floods that submerged 80 percent of Manila early in the week had
largely subsided, allowing people to return to their homes, but water
remained waist-deep across a huge area of a vital rice growing region to
the north.
"We need something to eat. I haven't gone to work or been paid for a
week," said Rogelio Soco, a construction worker and father-of-three in
the small farming town of Apalit, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from
Manila.
Soco, 60, said the floods, which began on Monday, were the worst the
area had seen since a huge typhoon struck in the early 1970s, and other
locals also said they had not experienced anything like it for decades.
Around Apalit, formerly green rice paddies had been turned into a
vast inland ocean of brown water.
AFP |