Nearly a month's worth of rain fell in just six hours Saturday on the Philippine capital, stranding thousands on rooftops in the city and elsewhere as Tropical Storm Ketsana slammed ashore. The government declared a «state of calamity» in metropolitan Manila and about two dozen storm-hit provinces, said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who heads the National Disaster Coordinating Council. That allows officials to withdraw emergency money for relief and rescue. Nearly 2,000 people were evacuated in Manila and surrounding areas, a disaster council report was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. The mayor of Cainta in nearby Rizal province, who was stranded on a dump truck on a road that was neck-deep in water, told ABS-CBN television by phone that many residents climbed onto roofs to escape. «The whole town is almost 100 percent underwater,» Mayor Mon Ilagan said. About 13.4 inches (34.1 centimeters) of rain fell over metropolitan Manila in just six hours, close to the 15.4-inch (39.2-centimeter) average for the entire month of September, said forecaster Vic Manalo with the government weather bureau. He blamed the downpour on thick rain clouds brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana, which packed 53 mph (85 kph) winds with gusts of up to 63 mph (100 kph) when it hit land early Saturday about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Manila. It was moving westward toward the rice-producing Central Luzon region at 12 mph (19 kph). A dozen flights in and out of the central and northern Philippines were canceled because of poor visibility, airport officials said. Hundreds of vehicles were stalled in flooded streets around the capital, and nearly 2,000 passengers were stranded in ports in several provinces south of Manila after the coast guard suspended ferry operations. The rains also caused the water in two dams near Manila to rise to spilling levels, the national disaster agency said. It said water was waist-deep in some communities in northern Bulacan province after one dam overflowed. Power distributor Meralco cut off electric service to some flooded areas in metropolitan Manila to prevent accidents, spokesman Joel Zaldarriaga said.
