Philippines: Thousands flee homes as fierce tropical storm batters east coast

Philippine rescuers waded through chest-deep floodwaters Wednesday to reach residents trapped by Tropical Storm Trami, which has forced thousands to evacuate as it barrels towards the country's east coast.

Torrential rains driven by the storm have turned streets into rivers, submerged entire villages and buried some vehicles up to their door handles in volcanic sediment knocked loose by the downpour.

At least 32,000 people had fled their homes in the northern Philippines, police said, as the storm edged closer to the Southeast Asian country's main island of Luzon.

In the Bicol region, about 400 kilometres southeast of the capital Manila, "unexpectedly high" flooding was complicating rescue efforts, said police.

"We sent police rescue teams but they struggled to enter some areas because the flooding was high and the current was so strong," regional police spokeswoman Luisa Calubaquib told AFP.

Trami's centre was 310 kilometres east of Aurora province with maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometres per hour as of 8am (0000 GMT), the national weather agency said.

Photos verified by AFP showed streets submerged by muddy floodwaters in Camarines Sur province's Bato municipality, with only the roofs of houses and convenience stores visible.

"It's getting dangerous. We're waiting for rescuers," resident Karen Tabagan told AFP.

In Naga city, about 40 kilometres from Bato, half of the 600 villages were fully submerged by flooding.

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