Residents brave flash floods to reach higher ground during tropical storm Choi-wan in the Philippines

Residents braved flash floods to reach higher ground as tropical storm Choi-wan battered the Philipines.

Residents braved flash floods to reach higher ground as tropical storm Choi-wan battered the Philipines.

Footage shows residents slowly crossing a damaged road overtaken by gushing water in Tboli, South Cotabato province on May 30.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office officer Mark Kim Tangcala said: "That’s the situation every time it rains hard because of the overflowing rivers.

Currently, the situation is still the same but the flow is weak." Tropical storm Choi-wan, locally named Dante, moved up the eastern side of the Philippines bringing heavy rain and flooding the Philippines.

The Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are at the start of their tropical monsoon rainy season.

Soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius are often followed by powerful tropical storms with thunder, lightning, rain and flash floods.