MANILA BATTLES DELUGE

       Atleast 73 people were killed and more than 330,000 others displaced after the heaviest rain in more than four decades plunged the Philippine capital into turmoil, officials said yesterday.
       The nine-hour deluge across Manila on Saturday submerged houses, washed away shanties and turned roads into raging rivers, forcing terrified residents to seek refuge on top of homes or cars where they waited for more than 24 hours.
       "I am calling on our countrymen ... to please stay calm," President Gloria Arroyo said, as she set a deadline of nightfall yesterday for the military and other rescuers to save those who remained stranded.
       The downpour from tropical storm Ketsana left some areas of Manila under up to six metres of water and its ferocity shocked a country that is used to being battered by typhoons.
       "This is the worst that I have seen," Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said of the extensive flooding. Arroyo said more rain had fallen on Manila and surrounding areas than on New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina devastated the US city in 2005.
       The confirmed death toll was 73, with 23 others still missing, Teodoro said yesterday evening.
       He added that more than 337,000 people in Manila and five outlying provinces were displaced, with nearly 60,000 people staying in evacuation centres.
       And even though the rain eased yesterday, rescuers said they feared the death toll might rise because receding floodwaters could expose more bodies.
       By yesterday night, more than 5,000 people had been saved, but many others were frantically waiting for help while battling thirst and hunger, meaning Arroyo's deadline to rescue everyone during daylight was not met.
       Philippine Red Cross chairwoman Gwendolyn Pang said rescuers were struggling to reach many areas, with highways rendered impassable.
       "This has never happened before. Almost 80 per cent of metropolitan Manila is underwater," she said. Adding to the chaos, telephone and power services were cut off in the worst-affected areas.

       Ketsana alert
       Thailand could be affected by tropical storm Ketsana from tomorrow night until Wednesday morning although the impact is unlikely to be too severe, Boontham Tanglamlert, a Meteorological Department officer, warned yesterday.