Roxas Boulevard remains flooded; US Embassy closed whole Wednesday

Flood waters submerge Roxas Blvd. as government workers walk the stretch unclogging the drainage Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 in Manila, Philippines. The slow-moving Typhoon Gener (International Name:Typhoon Saola) killed at least 12 people and displaced 154,000 in the Philippines. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)

MANILA, Philippines—Both lanes of Roxas Boulevard were closed Wednesday due to flood following monsoon rains, the Metro Manila Development Authority said.

In an advisory, MMDA said the southbound lane on Roxas Boulevard and the northbound lane of Quirino Avenue to Raja Sulayman are temporarily closed to traffic “due to water surge.”

It advised motorist to take alternate routes, either by turning left to Kalaw Street if coming from the southbound lane, or turning right to Quirino Avenue if coming from northbound.

Greg Reyes of MMDA-Metrobase said the two lanes are now suffering thigh-high floods.

“If we are to estimate the affected area, it would be around 2 kilometers from Quezon Avenue to Raja Sulayman,” Reyes said, adding that the flooding started before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Radio reports earlier said the compound of US Embassy has also been affected, prompting the cancelation of office work the whole Wednesday.

First posted 10:44 am | Wednesday, August 1st, 2012