On 26 September 2009, Typhoon Ketsana, known locally as Ondoy, ushered in wind speeds of up to 110kph, brought a months rain in less than 7 hours and killed at least 100 people making it the worst disaster to hit the capital in decades.
Typhoon Ketsana submerged 80% of the capital in its wake, and has affected over 2 million people in Manila and neighbouring provinces. Thousands of homes, many of them poor settlements by rivers, have been damaged. Many people have lost everything to ceiling-high flood waters that also brought mud, debris and garbage, and left victims on their roofs for as long as 20 hours without food or water.
