FILE PHOTO: Passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). INQUIRER / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Flood-affected roads leading to Terminal 4 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) are now passable to all types of vehicles, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) said on Wednesday, as it clarified that the terminal did not close down.
“Hindi po sarado ang Terminal 4 [pero madami] na canceled na domestic flights kaninang umaga,” Miaa General Manager Eric Ines told INQUIRER.net in a Viber message.
(Terminal 4 is not closed but many domestic flights were canceled this morning.)
READ: LIST: Canceled, diverted flights on Wednesday, July 24
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In a separate message, the Miaa Media Affairs Division said a 13-inch-deep flood hit roads leading to Terminal 4.
“Hindi naman po nagsara, wala naman po baha sa loob ng terminal. Pero sa labas po sa domestic road mataas ang baha kaya po walang makadaan kanina,” Miaa said.
(It’s not closed; there’s no flood inside the terminal. But outside the domestic road, the flood was so high that no one could pass earlier.)
As of 11 a.m., the agency said roads in the area are passable for all types of vehicles.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) earlier reported that gutter-to-chest-high floods hit many roads in Metro Manila due to heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon.
Based on the state weather bureau’s 11 a.m. bulletin, Carina was last spotted some 345 kilometers north-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, moving north-northwest at 15 kilometers per hour (kph), with maximum sustained winds of 165 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 205 kph.
It also enhanced the southwest monsoon, which is expected to bring moderate to intense rainfall in the western part of Luzon from Wednesday to Friday.