Ex-pat caught up in Philippines flooding

JOHN Flanagan

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EX-PAT John Flanagan has found himself at the centre of a natural disaster in the Philippines.

The former Oldham drama teacher, from Watersheddings, moved to Manila with his wife Leny.

At least 19 people have died and two million more across 30 cities and 16 provinces have been affected by the flooding.

A month’s worth of rain fell in two days just a week after Manila and the northern Philippines had been hit by Typhoon Saola.

John said: “The creek round the back of my house has risen by 9ft.

“The floods are really terrible, but there’s nothing anyone can do.

“We are tucked in our house for the time being as the water is too high. We can’t get around outside anyway.

“We visited friends in my wife’s province — San Pedro in Masantol, Pampanga — and they had fish swimming around in their bedroom.”

John has set up a Facebook account where readers can see more than 1,000 photographs he has taken in his “poverty” album.


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