Heavy flooding swamps Manila, gov’t suspends work

MANILA, Philippines—Waist-deep floods have swamped the streets in the Philippine capital after a night of monsoon rains closed down schools and government offices.

Authorities mobilized emergency personnel Tuesday to ready evacuations of areas near Manila’s rivers and canals where floodwaters are rising.

Massive traffic jams are slowing down movement in many sections of the capital.

No casualties have been immediately reported.

The northern Philippines has been battered by back-to-back storms that killed more than 60 people in the last two weeks.

Nearly 1,000 people died in and around Manila in 2009 during the heaviest rainfall in decades following several powerful typhoons.