A panoramic view of the financial district of Manila, Philippines, as dark clouds cover the horizon yesterday

Heavy rains spawned by a typhoon flooded a large portion of the Philippine capital yesterday as the death toll in the week-long bad weather rose to 71, a government agency said.
 Rains caused by Typhoon Muifa claimed their fifth victim since Thursday when an elderly woman drowned yesterday in a swollen creek in Quezon City, in the suburbs of the metropolitan Manila area.
   The floods caused huge traffic jams around the urban area of the capital despite the suspension of classes in most schools. All government offices in the metropolitan area and some private offices also closed.
 The weather bureau said Muifa, which did not make landfall, was on Tuesday moving off the northernmost island province of Batanes and heading towards Okinawa, Japan, with maximum sustained winds of 160kph and gusts of up to 200kph.
 “This weather disturbance is too far away to directly affect any part of the country, but it is expected to enhance the south-west monsoon which may trigger flashfloods and landslides,” it said.
 The Office of Civil Defence said the death toll from Tropical Storm Nock-Ten, which buffeted the country from Tuesday to Thursday, rose to 66 after rescuers late Monday recovered nine bodies of 19 fishermen who went missing off the eastern province of Masbate.
The office said a total of 17 people were still missing. DPA