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11/1/2009 4:32 AM

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Associated Press

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MANILA, Philippines - A typhoon battered the Philippine capital and surrounding provinces still reeling from recent flooding, sending residents of one town clambering onto rooftops Saturday to escape rising waters. Seven people died and at least five were missing.

Typhoon Mirinae was the fourth storm to lash the northern Philippines since late September and brought new hardship to areas still struggling in the wake of the previous disasters. Nearly 95,000 people who fled during two prior storms were still living in temporary shelters when Mirinae struck, the national disaster agency said.

Saturday's storm headed out to sea in the afternoon and weakened into a tropical storm. It appeared to be heading toward Vietnam.

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As Mirinae slammed into Quezon province northeast of Manila around midnight Friday, Philippine authorities evacuated more than 115,000 people in nine provinces east and south of the capital in the storm's path on main Luzon island, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported. At its height, its winds were blowing 93 miles per hour and gusting up to 115 mph.

One river in Laguna province, south of Manila, overflowed, washing away a bridge and flooding most of lakeside Santa Cruz town. Residents clambered onto roofs to escape the waters, said Mayor Ariel Magcalas.

"We cannot move; this is no joke. The water is high. We need help," Magcalas said in a public address on Radio DZBB early Saturday.

The muddy floodwater receded as rains eased later in the day, but was still chest-high in some communities.

In Manila, residents hunkered down in their homes overnight as rains beat down on dark, deserted streets. Mirinae passed south of the city of 12 million. The sprawling metropolis saw its worst flooding in 40 years in late September when Tropical Storm Ketsana hit the capital and nearby provinces. In many suburban communities, the floodwaters had still not receded when Mirinae struck.

Ketsana was quickly followed by Typhoon Parma, which triggered massive landslides in Luzon's mountain region. More than 900 people were killed in the storms, and a third then threatened the northern Philippines before veering toward Japan.

Ahead of Saturday's typhoon, millions of Filipinos had boarded buses for their home provinces for the Nov. 1 All Saints Day holiday.

©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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