It lasted 40 days and 40 nights, it dumbfounded scientists and meteorologists, it spawned conspiracy theories and gave President Ferdinand Marcos one more excuse to declare martial law.
On July 6, 1972, Typhoon Edeng entered Luzon through Casiguran, Quezon (now Aurora) and exited, two days later, through Vigan, Ilocos Sur. It caused only moderate flooding in the usual places (Pampanga and Bulacan).
Edeng had hardly left when Gloring came knocking at the door of the Philippine area of responsibility. The super-typhoon (375 kph—the strongest on record until Yolanda) never came close to the country itself, but it lingered around for 10 days, not quite sure whether to turn north to Japan or proceed to Luzon.
By July 20, Gloring was still meandering out at sea, about 1,110 km east of Aparri. Still quite far, but it was precisely its distance, and the angle of its position, as well as its sluggishness, that kept the monsoon clouds rolling across the island, dumping nonstop heavy rains on Manila, Baguio City and Central Luzon. Three more typhoons followed in quick succession (Huaning, Isang and Konsing), which prolonged the wicked weather over Luzon.
The siyam-siyam (nine days of continuous rains) was already way past its ninth day and was actually going on 30th. That’s one straight month of continuous rains, when the sun never shone, or even peeped. According to the weather bureau, the rains of July-August 1972 were the heaviest since 1911. Baguio City recorded 479.6 mm of rain in a single day (compared to Ondoy’s 454.9 mm), for a total of 4,724.5 mm in one month. In Apalit, Pampanga it was 1,999 mm while in Manila it was 1,751 mm.
The Pampanga River, Rio Chico and Agno River seemed to have disappeared in the flood, and the South China Sea looked like it cut across central Luzon and joined with the Pacific Ocean. Local media fueled panic by citing the alleged prediction of psychic Jeanne Dixon that Luzon island would sink into the sea. Astronauts orbiting the earth at the time reported seeing the flood blanketing Luzon from Bulacan and Pampanga all the way to Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan--a total of 16 provinces. Manila was 90% underwater.
Flooding began to recede on July 22. Some attributed this to the finding of the lost image of Santo Niño de Tondo which had been stolen a few days before the start of the flood. It was found in a canal near the suspect's house in Tondo but the jewels were all missing. It turned out that they had been sold to an art gallery owned by a Dr. Pascual who then surrendered them to Imelda Marcos. So the recovered Santo Niño was taken to Malacañang where the parts were put together and a Thanksgiving Mass was held in the presence of President Marcos. On Aug. 2, it was returned to Tondo accompanied by a procession of emotional devotees.
When the Great Luzon Flood of 1972 was over, the nation counted 565 dead (485 by drowning), 5.5 million people directly affected by flood, and P2 billion in damage to property and agriculture. It was the worst disaster in the Philippines since World War II (that is, until the Luzon Earthquake of 1990 and the Pinatubo eruption in 1991).
The following month, on September 21, 1972, President Marcos declared martial law, citing the chaos in the flood's aftermath as one reason.