Storm floods northern Philippine regions, including capital, disrupting schools, work and travel

Along the crowded banks of the Marikina River in the eastern fringes of the capital, a siren was sounded in the morning to warn thousands of residents to brace for evacuation in case the river water continues to rise and overflow due to heavy rains.

In Northern Samar province, coast guard personnel used a rope to evacuate 40 villagers on Sunday in two villages that were engulfed in waist-high floods, the coast guard said.

Sea travel was temporarily halted in several ports affected by the storm, stranding about 2,400 ferry passengers and cargo workers, and nearly two dozen domestic flights were suspended due to the stormy weather.

Downpours have also caused water to rise to near-spilling level in Ipo dam in Bulacan province, north of Manila, prompting authorities to schedule a release of a minimal amount of water later Monday that they say would not endanger villages downstream.

About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year. The archipelago lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million people in the central Philippines.