On the morning of Paulo and Mae Padilla’s wedding, flood waters had risen past knee level. All the roads in their neighbourhood were submerged.
Their province, Bulacan, in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines, has been hit by relentless rains driven by two typhoons.
But the couple were determined to go ahead with their big day. The groom, Paulo, told local broadcaster GMA: “Even if our vehicle is sinking [in the flood], we still wanted to push through just to be able to come here.”
To the couple’s surprise, guests somehow managed to make it to the church on Sunday, after wading through the waters in flip-flops and rubber boots.
The bride, Mae, said: “How high was the flood that we had to walk through just to be able to go out of our houses. There’s really nothing impossible. The Lord made all the things that were impossible, possible during that day.”
A video of Mae walking down the aisle shows the trail of her gown soaked and the tiles of the historic Barasoain church submerged in water. The footage has been shown on local news outlets, and shared widely on social media, where many praised Paulo and Mae for persevering against the odds.
Bulacan is one of many provinces in the Philippines badly affected by incessant rains brought first by Typhoon Doksuri and more recently by the south-west monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Falcon.
Across the country, about 2.47 million people across 13 regions have been affected, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. There have been a number of deaths, with 26 people killed after an overloaded ferry capsized amid high winds.
The Philippines faces an average of 20 storms and typhoons a year, and is especially vulnerable as global heating drives more destructive and unpredictable weather events.
The combined effect of Doksuri and the south-west monsoon is estimated to have caused $35.4m (£27.7m) worth of damage to the agriculture and fisheries sectors, and $63.9m in damage to infrastructure, according to estimates by the country’s Department of Agriculture and national disaster body.
It has also forced 317,975 people from their homes, disrupted power supplies, and closed schools and businesses.
