RESIDENTS of Tatalon village in Quezon City try to salvage their belongings as they clear their homes of rubbish and mud after Metro Manila was inundated by rains from Super Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

SEVEN people died in the capital region mostly from drowning, five in Batangas province, three each in Cavite and Rizal provinces, one in Bulacan and two in Angeles City in Pampanga, police spokesperson Jean S. Fajardo told a news briefing, citing the local disaster agency.

Two of the deaths were a mother and her five-year-old daughter, who were buried in a landslide in Bulacan province, she said.

The disaster agency said more than 1 million people from about 245,000 families had been affected by Carina, which together with the southwest monsoon inundated Metro Manila and some northern provinces.

Almost 52,000 people from 12,199 families were staying in evacuation centers, it said.

Carina left the Philippine area of responsibility at 10 a.m. on Thursday, according to the state weather bureau.

“The opening of the new school year on July 29 may be at risk with thousands of schools severely affected and some being used as evacuation centers,” the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a statement.

Children are among those who suffer the most in any emergency, it said, noting that the Philippines had the highest number of children displaced in the past six years from weather-related events at 9.7 million.

The center of Carina, which had maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 215 kph, was estimated at 515 kilometers north-northwest of Itbayat, Batanes province, it added.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. visited several evacuation centers in Metro Manila, including those in Valenzuela City, which was submerged in floodwaters after La Mesa dam overflowed on Wednesday.

In his visit to the city’s command center, the President cited miscommunication between dam operators and local government units regarding water release.

“Communication has become our weak spot,” he said. “When you open the dams — if they would spill — the downstream communities need to be informed.”

A social media photo showed a passenger bus submerged in Quezon City as the Marikina River, which spans 16 bridges, reached as high as 20 meters.

Its water level rose to 21.5 meters during the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 that killed more than 700 people, and to 22 meters during Ulysses in 2022 killed about 100 people.

Also on Thursday, the office of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio in a statement said she left the Philippines on Wednesday for “a personal trip with her family.”

“The timing of the trip coinciding with Typhoon Carina is unfortunate,” it said. Reports earlier said Ms. Duterte-Carpio had flown to Germany. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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