Massive post-flood clean-up in Philippines

10 Aug 2012, 2:12 pm   -   Source: AAP

As torrential monsoon rains in Manila leave at least 60 people dead officials have turned from rescue to clean-up work.

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Philippine disaster officials are shifting from rescue work to a massive clean-up following nonstop rains that have left tonnes of muck and debris.

The torrential monsoon rains that began on Sunday left at least 60 people dead in the worst flooding in Manila since 2009.

More than half of the sprawling metropolis of 12 million was submerged at the peak of the floods, and schools and offices were closed for days.

About 2.4 million people in Manila and nearby provinces have been affected, forcing more than 360,000 to seek shelter in government-run evacuation centres, the Office of Civil Defence reported on Friday.

The sun was out for a second day on Friday, and residents were hard at work fixing homes and stores in flood-hit communities that resembled a wasteland with mounds of mud-caked garbage.

"It was really an eyesore when we saw it from the helicopter," said civil defence chief Benito Ramos. "There will be no more rescue. It's now Operation Cleanup."

He said soldiers will be mobilised to help local authorities collect the debris that has clogged streets and waterways.

North of Manila, rains still poured intermittently and a helicopter carrying President Benigno Aquino III had to land on an isolated portion of a highway early on Friday when visibility became difficult, said his spokesman Ricky Carandang.

No one was hurt and the presidential party proceeded by car to visit flood victims in his home province of Tarlac, Carandang said.

The death toll from the floods rose to 60 early on Friday after casualty reports came in from more provinces, Ramos said. Most were drowning victims and nine people were killed in a landslide. At least seven people are missing.

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