Desperate families climbed onto roofs as Typhoon Vamco caused severe flooding in the Philippines on Thursday (November 12).

Footage shows the devastating scene in the Marikina area of Metro Manila where 6-foot-deep muddy torrents swamped tens of thousands of homes.

Stranded resident Jessy Ebrio said: "We had nowhere else to go so we climbed on our roofs. If we didn't do that, we would have drowned. It was so scary and most of us could not swim and we even had a baby with us."

The harrowing scene came as winds of up to 80 mph smashed into the region on Wednesday night before dumping rainwater.

Typhoon Vamco, referred to as Typhoon Ulysses in the Philippines, made landfall in Quezon province on Luzon island on Tuesday evening before moving towards the capital Manila, home to more than two million people.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Vamco was a Category 2 and issued a signal 3 warning, with signal 5 being the highest.

They warned of ‘’heavy damage to high-risk structures’’ and ‘’increasing damage to old, dilapidated residential structures, and houses of light materials.”

The agency said there would be ‘’widespread disruption of electrical power and communication services."

The storm comes just over a week after Typhoon Goni, also known as Typhoon Rolly, killed 74 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the Philippines when it made landfall on November 1.