Thousands evacuated in Philippines due to flooding

Monsoon rains have caused severe flooding in the Philippines, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

Officials said after days of rain there have been thousands evacuated and one dead, with evacuations efforts complicated by the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported.

One resident died on Friday after a tree fell on a taxi they were riding in. 

Marikina, a city of 15,000 people, was evacuated overnight with emergency shelters struggling to keep in place social distancing guidelines with the vast amount of people in need of a place to stay.

“This situation will be too difficult if there won’t be a permanent solution to flooding, especially now with the threat from the delta variant,” Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told ABS CBN News, according to the AP.

Other smaller villages in the northern part of the country were hit with minor landslides due to the rain. 

Floods have been impacting countries around the world, with more than 180 dead in Germany and Belgium from a rainstorm that caused massive flooding. 

Recorded flooding in China has also killed at least 33 people and left millions displaced after the city of Zhengzhou experienced a whole year’s worth of rain in a few days.