Filipino flooding

Tropical Storm Rumbia made its way across the central Philippines through the first half of this weekend bringing flooding rains to the area. The storm passed to the south of Manila so the capital was spared the worst of the weather.

The storm which is known locally as Gorio had sustained winds of 65kph with gusts of around 80kph as it made landfall. These winds were strong enough to knock down some trees and damage power lines and thousands of commuters were stranded for a time.

The greatest disruption was caused by the heavy rains accompanying the storm. Tacloban recorded 160mm of rain in 24 hours while Masbate saw 175mm of rainfall in the same period.

Fortunately the storm was moving relatively quickly at around 24kph, and this meant that the heaviest rain did not stay in any one place for as long as it might have done.

The storm is now moving out into the South China Sea and will strengthen slightly for a time. Current forecasts suggest that it is likely to make landfall to the east of Hainan around 0000GMT on Tuesday. Parts of south China can expect to see yet more flooding.