Published 7 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4105
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4105

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Typhoon hits the Philippines, killing more than 280 people

¹ Hong Kong

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

More than four million people have been affected by two major typhoons that have hit the Philippines in quick succession over the past two weeks.

Typhoon Ketsana tore through the capital, Manila, and surrounding areas on 26 September, followed by Typhoon Parma a week later, which clipped the northernmost part of Luzon island. The first had claimed 288 lives by 4 October, while 16 people died as a result of the second typhoon, the Philippine government’s National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

Six days after Typhoon Ketsana hit, more than 419 000 people were temporarily housed in 508 evacuation centres, such as schools and other public buildings. The typhoon inundated densely populated Manila with approximately 40 cm of rain in nine hours and the equivalent of a month’s average rainfall in one day.

"Large parts of Manila are close to or below sea level, so when you get massive inundation like . . . [Full text of this article]

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