Philippines: Storm Season Relentless

Filipinos are dealing with floods brought on by Tropical Storm Parma as best as they can.

The storm is now slowly heading toward the country’s tobacco-producing region, after killing at least 22 people.

Half a million people have been displaced.

Parma, downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday, was hovering off the northern tip of the Philippines yesterday.

Right behind it is Typhoon Melor, a category 4 storm currently south of Okinawa. It’s on a path that could take it over Tokyo by Thursday, according to the weather tracking website Tropical Storm Risk.

In Cagayan Province, soldiers and aid workers have been distributing relief goods to needy villagers.

People queued to receive plastic bags filled with rice.

Typhoon Ketsana, which ravaged the country last week, has already damaged crops, mostly rice about to be harvested.

Manila now has to consider more rice imports this year.

Despite damage caused by the storms, farmers in Cagayan Province were harvesting their rice crops.

Manila is still cleaning up from the floods.

Government officials say they are waiting for the waters to recede before measuring the exact extent of damage on rice farms.

(NTDTV)