Killer Storm Buries Parts Of Manila Under 20 Feet Of Water

NU Online News Service, Sept. 28, 3:31 p.m. EDT

Eighty percent of the Philippines capital city of Manila was left underwater after the storm Ketsana, now a typhoon, struck over the weekend, catastrophe modeler Risk Management Solutions said.

Guy Carpenter reinsurance brokerage said authorities there had reported economic damages estimated at $30 million and more than 100 persons killed.

The typhoon is expected to intensify into a Category 2 storm before making landfall tomorrow in Vietnam.

Newark, Calif.-based RMS said the intensity of the winds striking the Philippines was not sufficient to cause damage, but the combination of the storm with the active Southwest Monsoon resulted in heavy and persistent rainfall that caused Manila to be submerged underwater by as much as 20 feet at the height of the storm.

A Guy Carpenter report said Ketsana struck the Philippines Saturday with winds of up to 40 mph. Guy Carpenter said officials have reported at least 140 people killed and 450,000 people affected by the storm.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council, a Philippine government agency, said around 115,000 people were forced out of their flooded or destroyed homes and moved into 207 evacuation centers.

Guy Carpenter said that according to officials, the flooding was the worst to hit Manila in 40 years.

The NDCC declared a "state of calamity" in Manila and 25 other provinces, and reported economic damages of $30 million, Guy Carpenter said.

Guy Carpenter added that the flooding has since receded in Manila.

RMS said rainfall accumulations of between 13 and nearly 22 inches were recorded in a period of 6-12 hours in some locations, "which equates to amounts more typically seen over an entire month during the monsoon period."

RMS spokesperson Carolyn Krehel said there is no information available yet on insured losses.